David I. Adelman

U.S. Ambassador David I. Adelman

Since presenting his credentials as U.S. Ambassador on April 29, 2010, David Adelman has made great progress further developing and managing the relationship between the United States and Singapore.  Under his leadership the U.S. engagement in Singapore has become one of America’s anchors in Asia.

Ambassador Adelman has led trade missions to Burma, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam working to increase exports of American goods and services and identify investment opportunities for American firms.  He also regularly travels to the United States meeting with American manufacturers and service providers to discuss the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Asia.  Under Ambassador Adelman’s leadership, U.S. exports to Singapore are at a historic high having increased more than 45 percent.  The United States trade surplus with Singapore has grown to the fifth largest American surplus in the world.  In 2011, the U.S. Embassy in Singapore earned the State Department’s global award for promoting the President’s National Export Initiative.  Also, since Ambassador Adelman’s arrival, U.S. direct foreign investment in Singapore is at an all-time high having increased more than 20% to over $116 billion in cumulative investment in 2011.

Since Ambassador Adelman’s arrival, cooperation between the United States and Singapore on defense and security matters have advanced significantly.  Military cooperation reached a milestone with the announcement this year that the United States will deploy the first in class U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship in Singapore in 2013.  On February 1, 2012, for the first time, the United States and Singapore launched a formal annual Strategic Partnership Dialogue to further political and economic cooperation.  The Ambassador successfully worked to make Singapore a party to the Hague Convention on International Child Abductions and the countries signed the U.S.- Singapore Preventing and Combating Serious Crime Agreement.  Also in 2012, the Ambassador successfully negotiated the establishment of the U.S. – Singapore Third Country Training Program under which the U.S. and Singapore have worked jointly to build health care, environmental and educational capacity in the Lower Mekong.  Educational and cultural exchanges have also increased during Ambassador Adelman’s tenure.  This year, more Singaporeans than ever will study at American colleges and universities and more American researchers, students and artists will work in Singapore than at any other time in history.

Ambassador Adelman has spent most of his career in the private sector.  Prior to his appointment, he was a businessman and partner in a large American law firm.  He has also been a university instructor and member of the Georgia Senate.  He has received numerous academic and civic honors throughout his career.  He holds graduate degrees in law and public administration.

Born in New York City, Ambassador Adelman lived much of his life in Atlanta, Georgia.  He and his wife Caroline have three children, Oscar, Leah, and Avery.