Ambassador

Biography

MICHAEL W. MICHALAK U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

 

Ambassador Michael W. Michalak

Michael W. Michalak, a career Foreign Service Officer with extensive knowledge and experience in Asia, was sworn in as the United States Ambassador to Vietnam on August 10, 2007.  Prior to this position, Ambassador Michalak served as the U.S. Senior Official to APEC, Bureau of East Asia Pacific Affairs. 

In his over 30 years of service with the U.S. Department of State, Mr. Michalak has worked in Tokyo, Japan; Sydney, Australia; Islamabad, Pakistan; Beijing, China; as well as Washington, D.C., where he was assigned to the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, the Office for Japan and the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs. He received a group award for valor for his actions in time of crisis when the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad was burned down.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Michalak received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Physics from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., respectively. He received a second Master's degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  He speaks Chinese and Japanese.

Mr. Michalak is married and has three daughters.