Dr. Mark P. Lagon was nominated by President Bush in February 2007 and took the oath of office in May 2007 to serve as Ambassador-at-Large and Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State. The TIP Office coordinates U.S. Government activities in the global fight against modern-day slavery, including forced labor and sexual exploitation. According to U.S. Government-sponsored research completed in 2006, approximately 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across national borders, which does not include millions more trafficked within their own countries.
From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Lagon served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. In this capacity, he has lead responsibility for UN-related human rights and humanitarian issues, UN administration and reform, and the IO Bureau's public diplomacy and outreach programs.
Dr. Lagon previously served as a Member of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff, where he focused on UN and international organizations, democracy and human rights, and public diplomacy (2002-2004). From 1999 to 2002, he was a senior staff member of the Republican staff at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with particular responsibility for the State Department authorization bill, international organizations, economic sanctions, human rights, and broadcasting and public diplomacy. Previous foreign affairs positions include: Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow at the Project for the New American Century, specializing in China (1998-1999); Deputy Staff Director of the House Republican Policy Committee (1997-1998) and Senior Analyst (1995-1998).
Before working on Capitol Hill, Dr. Lagon was the principal aide to the Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick. He has been an adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics and Georgetown University. Dr. Lagon is the author of The Reagan Doctrine: Sources of American Conduct in the Cold War's Last Chapter (Praeger, 1994) and was associate editor of the journal Perspectives on Political Science.
Dr. Lagon has a Ph.D. from Georgetown University and a B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University.
