Christopher R. Hill arrived in Baghdad on April 24, 2009, to begin serving as America’s Ambassador to Iraq. Immediately prior to this assignment, Ambassador Hill was Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, in which capacity he also was the lead U.S. negotiator at the Six-Party Talks on the North Korea nuclear issue.
Ambassador Hill’s lifelong career as a public servant began in 1974, when he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1977.
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Ambassador Hill has served as the American Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (2004-2005), Poland (2000-2004), and the Republic of Macedonia (1996-1999). He also served as Special Envoy to Kosovo (1998-1999) and as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Southeast European Affairs in the National Security Council. Earlier in his Foreign Service career, Ambassador Hill served in Belgrade, Warsaw, Seoul, and Tirana, and on the Department of State's Policy Planning staff and in the Department's Operation Center.
Ambassador Hill is the recipient of numerous awards and decorations. He is a two-time recipient of The Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award, the Department of State’s highest award – the first for his work as the deputy of the U.S. negotiating team in the Bosnia peace settlement (1996) and the second for his leadership as Assistant Secretary and as lead U.S. negotiator for the Six-Party Talks (2009). He received the Robert S. Frasure Award for Peace Negotiations for his work on the Kosovo crisis (1999).
Ambassador Hill graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, with a B.A. in Economics. He received a Master's degree from the Naval War College.
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