Diplomacy: Our First Line of Engagement

Puget Sound alumnus Darryl Johnson, former U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania, Thailand and the Philippines and former director of the American Institute in Taiwan will speak on "Diplomacy: Our First Line of Engagement" at the IPE Brown Bag Lunch program at Noon on Wednesday March 26 in the WSC Murray Boardroom. Everyone is welcome to attend this important event.

Ambassador Johnson has had a distinguished career in the U.S. State Department. Here is a biographical sketch taken from the Department of State website.

Darryl N. Johnson was sworn in as American Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand on December 7, 2001. His previous assignment was as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, responsible for China and Mongolia.

Before joining the Foreign Service in 1965, Ambassador Johnson served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand, teaching English in Lamphun Province. His first Foreign Service assignment was to the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, India, after which he undertook Chinese language training, followed by assignment to the Consulate General in Hong Kong (1969-73). His other overseas postings have included Moscow (1974-77), Beijing (1984-87) and Warsaw (1988-91). He served as the first U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania (1991-94), and later served in Taipei as the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (1996-99). In Washington he held a variety of positions, including Yugoslav Desk Officer (1977-79), PRC Desk Officer (1979-81), Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs (1982-84), Deputy Coordinator for Assistance to the countries of the former Soviet Union (1994-96), Deputy Director of the Bosnian Task Force (1996), and Political Adviser to the Chief of Naval Operations (1999-2000).

Ambassador Johnson received his BA (cum laude) from the University of Washington and also attended the University of Puget Sound, the University of Minnesota and Princeton University. He was selected for the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa, and for the honor societies for military science, music and literature. In addition to Thai, he speaks Chinese (Mandarin), Russian, Polish and some Lithuanian.