Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Jr.

Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Jr.

The U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, Harry K. Thomas, Jr., presented his credentials to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on April 27, 2010.

Ambassador Thomas is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and served most recently as Director General of the Foreign Service and Director for Human Resources of the U.S. State Department. Prior to that, he served as a Special Assistant to the Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Department.  As Executive Secretary, he led the State Department Task Force that resulted in the safe evacuation of over 15,000 people from Lebanon in the fall of 2006.

Ambassador Thomas joined the Foreign Service in 1984, and served as U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh from 2003 to 2005. He also served in the White House as the Director for South Asia at the National Security Council from 2001 to 2002. His other postings include: New Delhi, India; Harare, Zimbabwe; Kaduna, Nigeria; and Lima, Peru. Ambassador Thomas speaks Spanish, Hindi, and Bangla and is learning Filipino. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and pursued further study at Columbia University.  He holds an honorary doctorate of Philosophy from Loyola University of Maryland and formerly served as member of the Board of Trustees of the College of the Holy Cross and the Board of Governors of the National Defense University.

• Press Release: (PDF 134KB) U.S. Senate Confirms Nomination of Harry K. Thomas, Jr. as Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines