William B. Taylor, Jr. was appointed as the first Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions by the Secretary of State in September 2011 to ensure U.S. assistance to the countries of the Arab revolutions is coordinated and effective. Currently, he coordinates assistance and support to Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.
A graduate of West Point and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, he previously served in posts in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. Before his current assignment, Bill Taylor was Senior Vice President for Conflict Management at the United States Institute of Peace. Prior to that, he served as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009.
Earlier, he was the U.S. Government's representative to the Mideast Quartet, which facilitated the Israeli disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. He served in Baghdad as the first director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office from 2004 to 2005, and in Kabul as coordinator of international and U.S. assistance to Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003. Ambassador Taylor was also coordinator of U.S. assistance to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
As an infantry platoon leader and combat company commander in the U.S. Army, he served in Vietnam and Germany.
