Thomas Laszlo Vajda is an American diplomat who had served as the United States Ambassador to Myanmar between 2021-2022.
Education
Vajda received a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 1988 and a Master of Arts from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1991.
Foreign Service career
Vajda joined the Foreign Service in 1991 and is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor. His previous postings included Deputy Chief of Mission in
Yangon,
Myanmar, Director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative, and Deputy Coordinator for Assistance to the Middle East. From 2014–2017, he served as U.S. Consul General in
Mumbai. From July 2017 to October 2018, he was Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for South Asia. From October 2018 until July 2019, he served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Security and Transnational Affairs in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. From August 2019 to May 2020, he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary with responsibility for
India,
Bangladesh,
Nepal,
Sri Lanka,
Bhutan, and
Maldives.
Other assignments include Deputy Office Director of the Office of Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Island Affairs in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affair, as a Political-Military Affairs Officer in the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, and as Political/Economic Section Chief of the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania. He was assigned as a Desk Officer in the Office of Japanese Affairs and prior to that as a Desk Officer in the Office of Korean Affairs.
In 2020, he served as the senior advisor in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.
On May 4, 2020, his nomination to be United States Ambassador to Burma was sent to the Senate.[ "Thirty Nominations and One Withdrawal Sent to the Senate", The White House, May 4, 2020] On August 5, 2020, a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was held on his nomination.[ "Nominations", United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, August 5, 2020] On November 18, 2020, his nomination was confirmed in the United States Senate by voice vote.
See also
-
Ambassadors of the United States
