R. Nicholas Burns

rdf:langString R. Nicholas Burns

rdf:langString Nick Burns

rdf:langString Nick Burns

rdf:langString Buffalo, New York, U.S.

rdf:langString Johns Hopkins University

rdf:langString Elizabeth Baylies

rdf:langString Robert Nicholas Burns (born January 28, 1956) is an American diplomat and academic who serves as the United States ambassador to China since 2022. Burns has had a 25 year career in the State Department, and served as United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Appointed by President George W. Bush, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 17, 2005, and was sworn into office by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. As under secretary, he oversaw the bureaus responsible for U.S. policy in each region of the world and served in the senior career Foreign Service position at the Department. He retired on April 30, 2008. He was a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. in summer 2008. In July 2009, Burns joined The Cohen Group, a consulting firm in Washington D.C, as a senior counselor. Burns is a professor of diplomacy and international politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a member of the Board of Directors of the school's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is director of the Aspen Strategy Group, senior counselor at The Cohen Group, and serves on the board of directors of Entegris, Inc. He writes a bi-weekly column on foreign affairs for The Boston Globe and is a senior foreign affairs columnist for GlobalPost. He also serves on the board of directors of the Atlantic Council, the Council on Foreign Relations, Special Olympics, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, American Media Abroad, the Gennadius Library and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation. In 2020, Burns was a Fulbright scholar at Queen Mary University of London and contributor to the New Statesman. Burns is vice chairman of the American Ditchley Foundation and serves on the panel of senior advisors at Chatham House. President Joe Biden nominated Burns to be Ambassador to China in August 2021. He was confirmed by the entire Senate on December 16, 2021 by a vote of 75–18. He presented his credentials on April 1, 2022.