Stephen Warren Bosworth (December 4, 1939 – January 4, 2016) was an American academic and diplomat. He served as Dean of The

Fletcher School The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in its ...

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...

and served as

United States Special Representative for North Korea Policy North Korea and the United States have no formal diplomatic relations. Sweden acts as the protecting power of United States interests in North Korea for consular matters. Current office holders President Joe Biden announced on May 21, 2021 t ...

from March 2009 to October 2011. He served three times as a

U.S. Ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the President of the United States, president to serve as the country's diplomat, diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as Ambassador-at-large, ...

, to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

(1979–1981), to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

(1984–1987), and to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

(1997–2001). In 1987, he received the

American Academy of Diplomacy The American Academy of Diplomacy is a private, nonprofit, non-partisan, elected organization whose active membership is limited to men and women who have held positions of high responsibility in crafting and implementing American foreign policy. ...

's Diplomat of the Year Award. In February 2009,

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

named Bosworth a

Special Representative Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seati ...

for North Korea policy.

Early life and education

Bosworth was born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

in 1939. He graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the Scientific method, scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities betwe ...

(1961) and an honorary doctorate (1986) from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

. He was also a graduate student at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

. He has two brothers, Brian Bosworth (head of the corporation FutureWorks) and Barry Bosworth (involved in advertisement).

Private career

Prior to 1984, his previous foreign service assignments include

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

, and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

where he was the State Department's

Director of Policy Planning The Director of Policy Planning is the United States Department of State official in charge of the department's internal think tank, the Policy Planning Staff. In the department, the Director of Policy Planning has a rank equivalent to Assistant ...

, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for inter-American affairs, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs. He was a member of the International Board of Advisers for the President of the Philippines, and also a member of the boards of International Textile Group and Franklin Templeton Investment Trust Management Co. (Korea). He was a member of the

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David R ...

. At times he has held teaching and oversight positions at various colleges and universities: Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (1990–1994); Linowitz Chair of International Studies,

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, followi ...

(1993); Trustee, Dartmouth College (1992–2002), Chairman of Board of Trustees, (1996–1999). Before his appointment as ambassador to South Korea, he was the executive director of the

Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) was an organization founded on March 15, 1995, by the United States, South Korea, and Japan to implement the 1994 U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework that froze North Korea's indigenous ...

(1995–1997). Before coming to KEDO, he was president of the United States Japan Foundation.

Political career

He served on the executive committee of

Americans Elect Americans Elect was a political organization in the United States known primarily for its efforts to stage a national online primary for the 2012 US Presidential Election. Although it was successful in obtaining signatures to get on the ballot in ...

, a political party seeking to gain ballot access in every state in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Personal life

Bosworth was married to Sandra De Puit, with whom he had a son and a daughter, but ended in a divorce. From 1984 until his death in 2016, he was married to Christine Holmes, from whom he had two stepchildren.

Death

On January 4, 2016, Bosworth died at the age of 76 due to

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of panc ...

in Boston, Massachusetts.

Writings

References

External links

*
Ambassador Bosworth Speaks on North Korea Policy at The Korea Society's 2009 Annual Dinner

Stephen Bosworth on the Korean Conflict
selected quotes, National Campaign to End the Korean War

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bosworth, Stephen W. 1939 births 2016 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to the Philippines Ambassadors of the United States to South Korea Ambassadors of the United States to Tunisia Americans Elect people Columbia University faculty Dartmouth College alumni Deaths from pancreatic cancer Directors of Policy Planning Experts on North Korea The Fletcher School at Tufts University faculty George Washington University alumni Hamilton College (New York) faculty People from Grand Rapids, Michigan Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class 20th-century American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats