W. Patrick Murphy, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, was designated Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma (Acting) in July 2012. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1992, Mr. Murphy has served in a variety of policy positions associated with Burma, including as Director and Deputy Director of the Office for Mainland Southeast Asia (Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam), Deputy Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma, Political and Economic Chief at Embassy Rangoon, and Burma desk officer. Prior senior assignments include leader of the interagency Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team in northern Iraq and Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Maseru (Kingdom of Lesotho). He has also served abroad on diplomatic assignments in China, Guinea, and Mali.
In Washington, Mr. Murphy previously served as senior political advisor for the Haiti Working Group and desk officer for Laos. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon. He received an M.A. in international relations from The Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), an M.S. in strategic security studies from the National War College, where he was a distinguished (honor) graduate, and a B.A. in political science and Canadian studies from the University of Vermont. He studied international economics at the European Institute in Nice, France.
Mr. Murphy is a recipient of the Department of State’s Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards and the Department of the Army’s Superior Civilian Service Award. He was the runner-up for the Secretary of State’s 2005 Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award for his work in Burma. He received the National Defense University 2009 President’s Award for excellence in writing. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Murphy was a resource economist for the World Wildlife Fund and a policy analyst for the Overseas Development Council. His foreign languages include French, Spanish, Cantonese, and Burmese.
