Biography

U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David B. Shear

David Shear
U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam

Term of Appointment:
August 2011 to present

David B. Shear was sworn in as Ambassador to Vietnam on August 4, 2011. He joined the Foreign Service in 1982. He has served in Sapporo, Beijing, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur. In Washington, he has served in the Offices of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Affairs and as the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs. He was Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in 2008-2009 and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in 2009-2011.

Mr. Shear was a Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University’s institute for the Study of Diplomacy 1998-99. He is the recipient of the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and the Defense Department’s Civilian Meritorious Service Award for his work in U.S. Japan defense relations.

Mr. Shear graduated from Earlham College and has a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the John’s Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has attended Waseda University, Taiwan National University, and Nanjing University. He and his wife Barbara have a first degree rank in the practice of Kendo, or Japanese fencing. He speaks Chinese and Japanese. The Shears have a college-age daughter.