John Negroponte

Ambassador John D. Negroponte, a United States career diplomat and national security official, held government positions abroad and in Washington between 1960 and 1997 and again from 2001 to 2008. He has been Ambassador to Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations, and Iraq. In Washington he served twice on the National Security Council staff, first as Director for Vietnam in the Nixon Administration and then as Deputy National Security Advisor under President Reagan. He has also held a cabinet level position as the first Director of National Intelligence under President George W. Bush. His most recent position in government was as Deputy Secretary of State, where he served as the State Department’s Chief Operating Officer.

While in the private sector from 1997 to 2001, Ambassador Negroponte was Executive Vice President of the McGraw-Hill Companies, with responsibility for overseeing the company’s international activities. During those years he was also Chairman of the French-American Foundation.

Since January 21, 2009, Ambassador Negroponte has assumed the position of Vice-Chairman of McLarty Associates, a leading international strategic advisory firm in Washington, D.C. Starting July 1st, Ambassador Negroponte will also take a part-time position at his alma mater, Yale University, as a Distinguished Senior Research Fellow in Grand Strategy and as a Lecturer in International Affairs.

Ambassador Negroponte has received numerous awards in recognition of his more than four decades of public service, including the State Department’s Distinguished Service Medal on two separate occasions, the highest award which can be conferred by the Secretary of State, and on January 16, 2009, President Bush awarded Ambassador Negroponte the National Security Medal for his outstanding contributions to U.S. national security.