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Joseph R. Donovan Jr.
Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
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Joseph R. Donovan Jr. became the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in January 2012, following five months as an Associate Professor at the National War College, National Defense University in Washington, DC. He is responsible for supporting the Chairman on the full range diplomatic and foreign policy issues.
Previously, Mr. Donovan served for two years as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs with primary responsibilities for U.S. relations with Japan and Korea, as well as the East Asian and Pacific Bureau’s Executive Office. As Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, he was instrumental in coordinating the State Department’s response to the 2011 Tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan and negotiating the May 28, 2010 U.S.-Japan Joint Statement on Okinawa.
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor, Mr. Donovan has served as the United States Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau (2008-2009) and the Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Tokyo (2005-2008). From 2003-2005 he was the Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs at the State Department. His other Foreign Service assignments include: Acting Deputy Director and Chief of the Political Section at the American Institute in Taiwan, Deputy Political Counselor and Chief of the Political-Military Affairs Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo; Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing; and Branch Chief of the American Institute in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Office. Mr. Donovan served earlier at the U.S. Embassies in Seoul, Republic of Korea and Doha, Qatar. He is the recipient of three individual State Department Superior Honor Awards.
Mr. Donovan has a masters degree with distinction in National Security Affairs from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and a bachelors degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. Following his graduation from Georgetown, he spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Korea. Mr. Donovan was born and raised in Goshen, New York. He and his spouse Mei Chou have two sons, James and Matthew.