Darryl Norman Johnson (1938 – 24 June 2018) was an American politician and career

Foreign Service Officer A Foreign Service officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. FSOs formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. They spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, cons ...

who held many positions in

American government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

around the world. Most recently and importantly he was the

United States Ambassador to Thailand This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Thailand. Thailand has had continuous bilateral relations with the United States since 1882. Relations were interrupted during World War II when Bangkok was occupied by Japanese forces. Norm ...

from 2001–2005. Additionally, he was acting US Ambassador to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

for several months in 2005. He used to live near

Seattle, WA Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. In retirement he was a lecturer at his undergraduate alma mater, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, where he taught in its

Jackson School of International Studies The Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS; officially Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies) is a school within the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Washington. It specializes in international relations and ar ...

Early life

Johnson was born in Chicago, Illinois, but he grew up in suburban Seattle, Washington. He attended public schools in Seattle, graduating from high school in 1956. He then attended the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

for two years before transferring to the

, where he received his BA

Cum Laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

in English Literature in 1960. While at the University of Washington he was a member of the academic honor societies for Military Science, Music and Literature, and was admitted to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

society in 1960. He next attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, working several months at the

Boeing Company The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

in Seattle during and after his university studies. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand between 1962 and 1965, joining the Foreign Service after he returned home.

Foreign service career

Johnson had a long and distinguished career as a United States Foreign Service officer, with extensive experience in East European and Asian affairs. Among other assignments, he served on the Bosnia Task Force in Washington and as Charge of the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo in April 1996. Before that, he was Senior Advisor to

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Körbelová, later Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political science, political scientist who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State, United S ...

, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and before that, was Deputy Coordinator for Assistance to the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union. Johnson served as the first American Ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania, having arrived in Vilnius in September, 1991, to open the first post-World War II U.S. Mission in that country. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland (1988–1991), and before that in Beijing (1984–1987), Moscow (1974–1977), Hong Kong (1969–1973), and Bombay (1966–1967). In addition, he served in the Department of State in Washington, D.C., as Officer-in-Charge of Yugoslav Affairs (1977–1979), Officer-in-Charge of People's Republic of China Affairs (1979–1981), as a Pearson Fellow in the Office of Senator

Claiborne Pell Claiborne de Borda Pell (November 22, 1918 – January 1, 2009) was an American politician and writer who served as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island for six terms from 1961 to 1997. He was the sponsor of the 1972 bill that reformed the Basic ...

(D-RI) (1981–82), and as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs (1982–84). In the latter position, his responsibilities included East European, Soviet, and East Asian/Pacific Affairs during the tenure of the then Under Secretary,

Lawrence Eagleburger Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger (August 1, 1930 – June 4, 2011) was an American statesman and career diplomat, who served briefly as the secretary of state under President George H. W. Bush from December 1992 to January 1993, one of the shortest t ...

Lecturing

In his capacity as lecturer at the University of Washington, Ambassador Johnson teaches a class called "Practicing American Foreign Policy", and also advises undergraduate students on their Qualifying Papers, an extended writing assignment of approximately 25 pages that is required by the Jackson School for graduation. This teaching position at the University of Washington has previously been held by former U.S. diplomats Ronald Woods and

Charles T. Cross Charles Tenney "Chuck" Cross (May 4, 1922 – November 3, 2008) was an American career diplomat and ambassador who held many positions in American government around the world. He served as the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong, 1974–1977, and w ...

. Ambassador Johnson also participates at various speaking engagements in the Seattle area, many of which relate to the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

and to the United States Foreign Service. He has published op-eds in several major newspapers regarding politics in Thailand, including the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' and the ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

''.

Personal life

Johnson is the father of one daughter and two sons. He is married to the former Kathleen Desa Forance. In addition to English he speaks Chinese (Mandarin), Polish, Russian, Thai and Lithuanian. Johnson died in Seattle on 24 June 2018.

References

External links

Interview with Darryl Johnson at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Foreign Affairs Oral History Project
(Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, March 26, 2006)
Discussion with Ambassador Johnson on events in Thailand and implications for U.S. policy toward Southeast Asia
(The National Bureau of Asian Research, May 14, 2010)
A Life Abroad: For Foreign Service Officers, the World is their Office
(University of Washington Arts and Sciences Newsletter, Summer 2007)
An unclassified State Department diplomatic cable written by Ambassador Johnson from Thailand
(U.S. Department of State) * (video)
Text of a security agreement between Thailand and the United States that was agreed to during Ambassador Johnson's tenure
(U.S. Department of State) {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Darryl N. 1938 births 2018 deaths Diplomats from Chicago Ambassadors of the United States to Thailand Ambassadors of the United States to Lithuania Directors of the American Institute in Taiwan University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Minnesota alumni United States Foreign Service personnel 20th-century American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats