Sichan Siv was the

United States ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S ...

to the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

from 2001 to 2006. From 1989 to 1993, Ambassador Siv served at

The White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

as deputy assistant to President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

and at the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

as deputy assistant secretary. He has also held various positions in the private sector and has written two books.

Biography

Siv was born in Pochentong, Cambodia, in 1948. His entire family - 15 total, including his mother - were killed during

Pol Pot Pol Pot; (born Saloth Sâr;; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian revolutionary, dictator, and politician who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist a ...

's reign of terror. He arrived in the United States in 1976, and enrolled in the Master of International Affairs Program at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

with a full scholarship. He became a US citizen in 1982. He was a volunteer in

's 1988 presidential campaign and was appointed as his deputy assistant in 1989. He later attended the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...

. In 2001, Siv was unanimously confirmed by the Senate and appointed by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

as the

to the

, a position he held until 2006.

Awards

He is the recipient of the George H.W. Bush Award for Outstanding Public Service, DAR Americanism Medal, U.S. Army Commander’s Award, and Brazilian Academy of Art, Culture and History Honors. He has been a volunteer in the Civil Air Patrol and an honorary commander of the U.S. Air Force. He was conferred an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Public Service from The

University of Cambodia The University of Cambodia (often referred to as UC for short; km, សាកលវិទ្យាល័យកម្ពុជា, ''Sakâlvĭtyéalai Kămpŭchéa'') is a private university located on Northbridge Road in Sen Sok District, Phnom P ...

in 2011.

Literary works

Siv has authored two books: ''Golden Bones: An Extraordinary Journey from Hell in Cambodia to a New Life in America'' (2009) and ''Golden State, Love and Conflict in Hostile Lands'' (2014).

References

External links

*
"The Karma of the Killing Fields"
an

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...

by Siv published in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''
"Last Breakfast in Cambodia"
an op-ed by Siv published in the ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Siv, Sichan Living people American people of Cambodian descent American diplomats School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)