Dartmouth Events

Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., was appointed Counselor of the Department by Secretary Kerry on December 24, 2013. Ambassador Shannon had served briefly as Senior Advisor to the Secretary following his return in September from Brazil, where he served as U.S. Ambassador for nearly four years. He is a Career Ambassador in the Senior Foreign Service. Ambassador Shannon is only the seventh Foreign Service Officer to hold the position of Counselor since World War II, and the first in 32 years. Prior to his tenure in Brazil, Ambassador Shannon served as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the Department of State, where he was Director of Andean Affairs. He was U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), with the rank of Ambassador.  Ambassador Shannon also served as Director of Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council, as Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, and as Regional Labor Attache at the U.S. Consulate General in Johannesburg, South Africa.  During his 30-year career as a Foreign Service officer, Ambassador Shannon also served as Special Assistant to the Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, as Country Officer for Cameroon, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe, and as a Consular/Political Rotational Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, Guatemala.