BIOGRAPHY
Joseph R. Donovan Jr.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Term of Appointment: 9/8/2009 to present
Joseph R. Donovan Jr. assumed responsibilities as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on September 8, 2009. As Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, he is responsible for relations with Japan and Korea, and the East Asian and Pacific Bureau’s Executive Office.
Previously, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Donovan served as Consul General of the United States of America in Hong Kong (2008-2009). As Consul General, he was responsible for the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions of China. Before arriving in Hong Kong, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Donovan was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy Tokyo (2005-2008), and Director for the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State (2003-2005).
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, his earlier assignments include: Chief of the Political Section at the American Institute in Taiwan; Deputy Political Counselor and Chief of the Political-Military Affairs Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo; Deputy Head of the Political Section at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing; and Branch Chief of the American Institute in Taiwan's Kaohsiung Office. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Donovan has also served at the U.S. Embassies in Seoul, ROK and Doha, Qatar.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Donovan has a Master's Degree with distinction in National Security Affairs from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and a Bachelor's Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. Following his graduation from Georgetown, he spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Korea. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Donovan was born and raised in Goshen, New York.
Released on September 15, 2009
