Franklin L. Lavin (born October 26, 1957) is a former Republican

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

aide who was the political director for

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

between 1987 and 1989, a United States diplomat, U.S. naval officer, and a bank executive.

Early life and education

Lavin is from Ohio and graduated from

Phillips Academy Andover Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

in 1975. He later earned a B.S. from the

School of Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It grants degrees at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Founded in 1919, SFS is the oldest continu ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

; a

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

from Georgetown University; a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in International Relations and International Economics from the

School of Advanced International Studies The School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C. The school also maintains campuses in Bologna, Italy and Nanjing, China. The school is devoted to the study of int ...

at the

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

; and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in Finance at the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Career

As Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Lavin headed the

International Trade Administration The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that promotes United States exports of nonagricultural U.S. goods and services. Duties The ITA's stated goals are to # Provide practical info ...

for the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...

from 2005 until 2007. Frank Lavin 050129-N-3372S-022 crop

From August 2001 to 2005, Lavin served as the

United States Ambassador to Singapore The United States ambassador to Singapore is the official representative of the United States of America to the Republic of Singapore. Pending confirmation by the United States Senate, the designated ambassador of the Embassy of the United Sta ...

. As of September 2001, Lavin is an officer in the United States Navy's reserve. A 2005 report by the

Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

praised Lavin's leadership in this position, calling him "a strong leader with a high degree of intellectual curiosity who wants to be kept well-briefed by all agencies, and yet lets people do their jobs without micromanaging". From 2011 to 2023, Lavin served as CEO of Export Now, a company dedicated to helping consumer brands sell their products in China. In August 2016, Lavin endorsed Democratic candidate

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

in the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

.Murphy, Mike (February 19, 2019
"Amazon Crime, Art of the Surrender and Globe Trotting with Amb. Frank Lavin"''Radio Free GOP With Mike Murphy''
/ref> In 2020, Lavin, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."

Personal life

Frank Lavin and his wife Ann (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Wortley) have been married since November 29, 1980. They have three children. His father was a soldier in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Selected publications

*Lavin, Frank, and

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

. ''Home Front to Battlefront: An Ohio Teenager in World War II''. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2017.

References

Political Service

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavin, Frank 1957 births Ambassadors of the United States to Singapore Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Living people Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni People from Canton, Ohio Wharton School alumni Pennsylvania Republicans United States Navy reservists Under Secretaries of Commerce for International Trade