David Shear

Ambassador David B. Shear is an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He performed the duties of principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy from June 2016 to January 2017. He was the assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs from September 2014 to June 2016. Prior to 2014, Mr. Shear served for 32 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, most recently as the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam. He has also served in Sapporo, Beijing, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur. In Washington, he 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 served as deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in 2009–2011. Ambassador Shear was a Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy in 1998–1999. He is a graduate of Earlham College and SAIS and has attended Waseda University, Taiwan National University, and Nanjing University. Ambassador Shear is the recipient of the Department of State's Superior Honor Award and the Department of Defense's Civilian Meritorious Service Award. He has a first-degree rank in kendo, the Japanese art of swordsmanship.