Samuel C. Laeuchli has been assigned as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to Burkina Faso since September 2008. He is a resident of Arizona, and after entering the Foreign Service in 1990 has served at U.S. diplomatic missions in China, the Central African Republic, Hungary, and Saudi Arabia. From 2003-2005 he served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Libreville, Gabon and from 2006-2008 he was Political Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSEC) in Vienna.
Prior to joining the State Department, Mr. Laeuchli served four years as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He has a Ph.D. in South Asian Studies from Columbia University.