The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The US Ambassador-designate to Bangladesh, James F. Moriarty, arrives Dhaka tomorrow (Thursday) to take up his new assignment, the US Embassy announced yesterday (Tuesday).

Ambassador Moriarty was nominated by President Bush on September 5, 2007 and confirmed by the US Senate on March 13. Ambassador Moriarty was sworn-in by Secretary of State Rice in Washington on March 26.

He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, rank of Minister-Counselor.

Prior to this assignment, Moriarty served as U.S. Ambassador to Nepal between 2004 and 2007.

Before moving to Nepal, Ambassador Moriarty served in 2002-2004 as Special Assistant to the US President and Senior Director at the National Security Council (NSC).

He was responsible for advising on and coordinating U.S. policy on East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific region. Ambassador Moriarty also worked in the White House in 2001-2002 as NSC Director for China Affairs.

In 1998-2001, Ambassador Moriarty served as Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

In 1994-1998, he led the General Affairs (Political) Section at the

American Institute in Taiwan.

Ambassador Moriarty shaped the U.S. response to PRC missile tests in the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, and the ramming of a U.S. EP-3 plane off China's Hainan Island. In these jobs and at the NSC, Ambassador Moriarty helped lay the groundwork for U.S. China policy for the 21st century.

As Deputy Director of the State Department's Office of United Nations (UN) Political Affairs in 1991-93, Ambassador Moriarty coordinated U.S. policy on UN Security Council issues. He received the American Foreign Service Association's Rivkin Award for his principled approach to the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.

Ambassador Moriarty was Diplomat-in-Resident at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1993-94. Earlier assignments in Ambassador Moriarty's career included postings at the U.S. Embassies in Pakistan, Swaziland and Morocco, additional tours in Beijing and Taipei, and work on African issues at the U.S. Department of State.

Ambassador Moriarty joined the Foreign Service in 1975.

Ambassador Moriarty earned his Bachelor of Arts in History, summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College. He speaks Chinese, Nepali, Urdu, French and Bangla.

Among Ambassador Moriarty's numerous awards are individual State Department Superior Honor Awards for his work in China (2000) and on Yugoslavia (1993) and two Group Superior Honor Awards. For his reporting and analysis in Pakistan, Ambassador Moriarty won the Director General's 1987 Award as the State Department's best reporting officer. He received a Presidential Pay Award in 2005 and, on numerous occasions, State Department Performance Pay.

A native of Ware, Massachusetts, Ambassador Moriarty is married to Lauren Moriarty. She is a retired senior U.S. diplomat. The Ambassador is the proud father of a son, Mana, and a daughter, Kate Kanani.