W. Patrick Murphy

W. Patrick Murphy (born 1963) is a senior career U.S. diplomat and a member of the Foreign Service since 1992. He currently serves as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, fulfilling the duties of Acting Assistant Secretary. He previously served as Chargé d’affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in the Kingdoms of Thailand and Lesotho. He was nominated on August 16, 2018 to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Early Life and Education Murphy was raised and educated in Vermont. As a result of his father’s career in nuclear energy, he was born in Idaho and spent very early years in Michigan and Massachusetts. Murphy attended Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS) in Vermont, where he served as senior class vice president, was a member of the National Honor Society, lettered in soccer, tennis, and track, completed an exchange Program in Switzerland, and was an active member of the Model Assembly Program. He represented Vermont as a “senator” at the 1980 American Legion Boys Nation. He obtained a B.A. in 1985 in Political Science and Canadian Studies from the University of Vermont.

Following his graduation from UVM, Murphy served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon for three years (after training in Zaire) and obtained an M.A. in 1991 in International Relations and Canadian Studies from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. In 2009, Murphy received a M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College, where he was a distinguished graduate.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Murphy also taught French at the Emerson Preparatory School in Washington, DC and worked in television production at the Close Up Foundation, as a policy analyst for the Oversees Development Council, and as a resource economist for the World Wildlife Fund,

Diplomatic Career Murphy joined the Foreign Service in 1992. Since his first mission at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, China, Murphy has completed diplomatic assignments in Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Iraq, Lesotho, Guinea, and Mali. His experience also includes various positions in Washington, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia, Acting Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma, Director and Deputy Director of the Office for Mainland Southeast Asia, senior political advisor for the Haiti Working Group, and desk officer for Burma and Laos.

List of Diplomatic Missions

• July 2018 – present: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs • 2016 – 2018: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia • 2013 – 2016: Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé, Embassy Bangkok, Thailand • 2012 – 2013: Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma, Acting • 2011 – 2012: Director, Mainland Southeast Asia • 2010 – 2011: Deputy Director, Mainland Southeast Asia • 2009 – 2010: Team Leader, Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team, Iraq • 2006 – 2008: Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé, Embassy Maseru, Lesotho • 2003 – 2006: Political and Economic Counselor, Embassy Rangoon, Burma • 2000 – 2002: Senior Political Advisor, Haiti Working Group • 1998 – 2000: Burma and Laos Desk Officer • 1995 – 1998: Political and Economic Chief, Embassy Conakry, Guinea • 1993 – 1995: Vice Consul, Consulate General Guangzhou, China • 1990: Graduate intern, Political and Economic Section, Embassy Bamako, Mali

Awards and Honors Murphy received a dozen of the Department of State’s commendations, including Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards; the Department of the Army’s Superior Civilian Service Award; and the National Defense University 2009 President’s Award for excellence in writing. He was also the runner-up for the Secretary of State’s 2005 Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award for his work in Burma.

Publications Murphy, W. Patrick, & Vandal, Thomas (2010, July 15). Winning in Iraq by Working Together. The Washington Times. Sewell, John W., & Murphy, W. Patrick (1992). The United States and Japan in Southeast Asia: Is a Shared Development Agenda Possible? The U.S.-Japan Economic Relationship in East and Southeast Asia, XIV(1), Significant Issues Series, 115-138. Asia Pacific Association of Japan and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Personal Life Murphy speaks French, Spanish, Cantonese, and Burmese. He and his wife Kathleen have one son, Seamus, and two daughters, Meghan and Gillian.

References

 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cda_w_patrick_murphy.jpg
 https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/255318.htm
 https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/255318.htm
 https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/nineteen-nominations-two-withdrawals-sent-senate-today/
 https://www.reformer.com/stories/cultural-curiosity,192482.
 http://www.uvm.edu/vq/?Page=news&storyID=16366&category=vqafocus
 http://www.uvm.edu/vq/?Page=news&storyID=16366&category=vqafocus
 https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/255318.htm
 https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/255318.htm
 https://www.linkedin.com/in/w-patrick-murphy-8a198262
 http://www.uvm.edu/vq/?Page=news&storyID=16366&category=vqafocus
 https://www.fpa.org/events/index.cfm?act=show_event&event_id=548
 https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/15/winning-in-iraq-by-working-together/
 https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/255318.htm
 https://www.reformer.com/stories/cultural-curiosity,192482