David Shear

Ambassador David Shear is a senior adviser at McLarty Associates, a global strategic advisory firm. He is also chairman of the National Association of Japan-America Societies. He served as assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs from 2014 to 2016, when he performed the duties of principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy. Prior to 2014, Ambassador Shear served for 32 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, most recently as the ambassador to Vietnam. He has also worked in Sapporo, Beijing, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur. In Washington, Ambassador Shear 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 deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in 2009-2011. He is the recipient of the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and the Defense Department’s Civilian Meritorious Service Award. He was a Rusk fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy from 1998 to 1999. Ambassador Shear graduated from Earlham College and holds a master’s degree in international affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has attended Waseda University, Taiwan National University, and Nanjing University. He speaks Chinese and Japanese.