Marie Royce, (born Marie Thérèse Porter), is an American businesswoman, diplomat, and educator. She was the

Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs The assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs is the head of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, a bureau within the United States Department of State. The assistant secretary of state for educational and cu ...

from 2018 to 2021. She was nominated by President

Donald 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 (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and was unanimously confirmed by the

US Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

. Royce was succeeded by Lee Satterfield on November 23, 2021.

Education

Royce graduated from

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a Public university, public Institute of Technology (United States)#Polytechnic universities, polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the l ...

, with a bachelor of science degree in marketing management and management human resources. She earned 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 international business from

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 ...

in 1996. Royce is a lifetime member of the international honor societ
Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS)
which honors academic achievement.

Career

Royce was a faculty member at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. While working in the private sector for over 30 years, Royce held senior management positions at

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging brands that include hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. Marriott International owns over 37 ho ...

Choice Hotels International Choice Hotels International, Inc. is an American multinational hospitality industry, hospitality company based in North Bethesda, Maryland. The company, which is one of the largest hotel chains in the world, owns various hotel brands ranging fro ...

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

, and

Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent S.A. () was a multinational telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France. The company focused on Fixed line telephone, fixed, Mobile phone, mobile and telecommunications convergence, ...

. Royce served as a private sector appointee on the Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy (ACICIP) at the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

. While serving as

Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political aff ...

, Royce was named by President Donald J. Trump to the official Presidential Delegation to attend the final match of the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, on July 7, 2019. Marie Royce VMFA

In August 2024, Governor

Glenn Youngkin Glenn Allen Youngkin (born December 9, 1966) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 74th governor of Virginia since 2022. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he spent 25 years at the Private equi ...

and the Secretary of the Commonwealth of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Kelly Gee Kelly T. Gee is an American public official serving as secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia since 2023. She was the executive director of the Virginia Lottery from 2022 to 2023. Gee served as the deputy chief of staff to Kirk Cox while he was ...

, appointed The Honorable Marie Royce to serve on the

Board of Trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the supp ...

(VMFA), for a term of five years. The VMFA is a state-supported, privately

endowed A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are ...

institution created for the benefit of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Awards

Royce was selected as an American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) delegate to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and received the ACYPL Honors Award in 2018. The American Women for International Understanding (AWIU) recognized her with their Internationalism Award in 2013. In 1994, Royce was

Cal Poly Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a public polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the largest of the three polytechnic universities in the California State University syst ...

's Distinguished

Alumna Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

for the College of Business and their Commencement Speaker. Royce was named "Legend of International Business and Marketing", awarded by Cal Poly Pomona in 2012. The award honors significant, sustained contributions by an alumnus in the field of international business or marketing. In 2019, Royce was decorated with the “Order of Civil Merit, Commander by Number,” by

Felipe VI Felipe VI (; Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed For ...

. In October 2020, Royce was recognized with an Honorary Doctor Causa from the

University of Tirana The University of Tirana (, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the State University of Tirana (SUT) in 1957 through merging of five existing institutes ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. Royce was recently honored by her high school

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, Pomona Catholic, with their Pillar of Scholarship Distinguished Alumna Award. In April 2021, Royce joined the

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

Center of Public Diplomacy as a member of their Board of Advisors. Royce was also honored by the Congressional Families Cancer Prevention Program part of the

Prevent Cancer Foundation The Prevent Cancer Foundation (PCF), formerly the Cancer Research Foundation of America or the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, is a United States-based charity and one of the leading US health organizations devoted to the early detect ...

, with the Congressional Families Leadership Award, as a longstanding member of the Congressional Families Executive Council and supporter of both program and Foundation-wide events. In September 2021, Royce was honored with the Career Achievement Award at the 2021 Professional Fraternity Association Conference in

Irving, Texas Irving is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and is an Inner suburb, inner city suburb of Dallas. Irving is noted for its #Demographics, racial and ethnic diver ...

for her service as the former Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Career Achievement Award is the highest level of recognition given by the

Professional Fraternity Association The Professional Fraternity Association (PFA) is an American association of national, college, collegiate, professional fraternities and sororities that was formed in . Since PFA groups are discipline-specific, members join while pursuing gradua ...

, which represents over 100,000 undergraduate and graduate students on over 1,000 college campuses across the nation. Royce has been active with the co-ed professional fraternity Pi Sigma Epsilon, one of the 30 fraternal member groups represented by PFA that has collectively initiated 2.5 million members in professional fields. Royce was selected for her career achievements in the private sector, her philanthropic work at the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

, and her continued involvement over the past 40 years. In January 2025, Royce was honored with the

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his a ...

Legacy Award for "Leadership in Global Education" for working to keep the Dream Alive... Commitment - Leadership - Service... at the 33rd Anniversary of the International Salute to the Life & Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, hosted and presented by the Institute for the Advancement of Multi-cultural and Minority Medicine (IAMMM). The celebration was held at the

Willard Hotel The Willard InterContinental Washington, commonly known as the Willard Hotel, is a historic luxury Beaux-Arts hotel located at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Downtown Washington, D.C. It is currently a member of Historic Hotels of America, th ...

in Washington, DC. Royce was recognized for her accomplishments and contributions over the years. 2025-01-19 - Marie Royce MLK Celebration -

Dr. King once said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.

Personal life

Royce is married to

Ed Royce Ed Royce may refer to * Ed Royce (politician), a former member of the US House of Representatives from California * Edward Royce (director), an English director and choreographer See also * Royce (disambiguation) Royce may refer to: Places ...

, a former member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royce, Marie Therese Living people Assistant secretaries of state for educational and cultural affairs California State Polytechnic University, Pomona alumni Georgetown University alumni First Trump administration personnel Year of birth missing (living people) American diplomats American women diplomats