Biography of John F. Tefft

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs

John Tefft became Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs on July 6, 2004. He has been a career member of the Foreign Service since 1972 and has specialized in European affairs.

Tefft served most recently as International Affairs Advisor (Deputy Commandant) at the National War College in Washington, DC. From 2000 to 2003, he was the United States Ambassador to Lithuania. He served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 1996 to 1999, and was Chargé d’affaires at the Embassy from November 1996 to September 1997. Tefft has also served as Director of the Office of Northern European Affairs from 1992 to 1994, Deputy Director of the Office of Soviet Union (later Russian and CIS) Affairs from 1989 to 1992, and Counselor for Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Rome from 1986 to 1989. His other foreign assignments included Budapest and Jerusalem, as well as service on the U.S. Delegation to the START arms control negotiations in 1985.

In his current position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, Tefft supervises the offices in the European Bureau responsible for U.S. bilateral relations with Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, as well as the Office of Policy and Regional Affairs, which coordinates nonproliferation, security assistance export control, and other related issues throughout the European Bureau.

Among his awards are the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award and the DCM of the Year Award for his service in Moscow.

Tefft holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and a Master of Arts degree from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. His spouse is a biostatistician and nurse. They have two daughters.