Glyn T. Davies
Quick Facts
Biography
Glyn Townsend Davies is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service. On August 5, 2015, the U.S. Senate confirmed Davies to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand. His diplomatic career began in 1980. He has served in three ambassadorial-level assignments since 2003, most recently as Special Representative of the U.S. Secretary of State for North Korea Policy.
Career
Prior to his current assignment as US Ambassador to Thailand, Glyn Townsend Davies recently served as a Senior Advisor in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, a position he has held since 2014. Prior to that, Davies served as the Special Representative of the U.S. Secretary of State for North Korea Policy from January 2012 to November 2014. In this capacity he was responsible for coordinating U.S. involvement in the Six-Party Talks process, as well as all other aspects of U.S. security, political, economic, human rights, and humanitarian assistance policy regarding North Korea.
Other senior-level diplomatic assignments: Permanent Representative (with the rank of ambassador) to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Office in Vienna from 2009-2012; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2006 to 2009; Acting Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in 2005, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs from 2004 to 2005; Political Director of the U.S. Presidency of the G-8 (with the rank of ambassador) from 2003 to 2004; Deputy Chief of Mission (with the rank of minister) at the U.S. Embassy in London, United Kingdom from 1999-2003; Executive Secretary of the White House National Security Council Staff from 1997 to 1999; Deputy Spokesman and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from 1995 to 1997; and Director of the State Department Operations Center from 1992 to 1994.
Davies began his diplomatic career with postings to the U.S. Consulate General in Melbourne, Australia from 1980 to 1982, and the U.S. Embassy Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Congo) from 1982 to 1984. He was Special Assistant to Secretary of State George Shultz from 1986 to 1987. From 1987 to 1992, Davies served in the State Department’s Office of European Security and Political Affairs working primarily on NATO nuclear and disarmament issues, followed by an assignment as Political-Military Affairs Officer, and then as Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Paris.
Personal life and education
Davies is the son of the late Richard T. Davies, a career Foreign Service officer. The younger Davies earned a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1979. He later earned a Master of Science, with distinction, in National Security Strategy from the National War College at Ft. McNair, Washington, D.C. He and his wife Jacqueline M. Davies, a lawyer, have two daughters and two granddaughters.