Ambassador David T. Killion was nominated as U.S. Permanent Representative to UNESCO with the rank of Ambassador on June 25, 2009 by President Obama and was sworn into office on August 12, 2009.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Killion served as a Senior Professional Staff member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and was the Committee’s top expert on International Organizations and State Department Operations. He managed the drafting of the State Department Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 on behalf of Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), which passed the House on June 10, 2009. He also coordinated the Committee’s initiatives to improve UN management and to reform UN human rights mechanisms.
Mr. Killion served as top UN advisor to the previous Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee, the late Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA). In this capacity he worked on legislation that Mr. Lantos introduced and passed in 2001 authorizing the U.S.’s re-entry to UNESCO.
Prior to serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Killion was an appointee of the Clinton Administration in the Department of State, in the bureau of Legislative Affairs (1996-2001), and as a legislative assistant to Congressman David Skaggs (D-C0) (1994-1996).
Mr. Killion holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and an M.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles.
