Stephen D. Mull (born April 30, 1958) is a

Senior Foreign Service The Senior Foreign Service (SFS) comprises the top four ranks of the United States Foreign Service. These ranks were created by the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and Executive Order 12293 in order to provide the Foreign Service with senior grades ...

officer who was most recently the Acting Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs. He previously served as United States Ambassador to

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 ...

, Acting

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Assistant may refer to: * Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones * Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration * Google Assistant, a virtual assistant by Google * ''The Assistant'' (TV seri ...

and United States Ambassador to

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Ambassador Mull holds the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest diplomatic rank in the United States Foreign Service. On September 18, 2015, Mull was appointed as the United States Lead Coordinator for

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Nuclear Implementation, tasked with carrying out the terms of the

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; (, BARJAM)), also known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement to limit the Iranian nuclear program in return for sanctions relief and other provisions. The agreement was finalize ...

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) 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 secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

. In 2024, Secretary of State

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...

appointed him to coordinate the peaceful transfer of power with the Trump Presidential Transition Team.

Biography

Mull was born in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

. He graduated 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 ...

with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Politics in 1980. Mull is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service in the

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

of Career Ambassador. He previously served as the

Deputy Chief of Mission A deputy chief of mission (DCM, in Europe the term deputy head of mission – DHoM or DHM is used instead) is the number-two diplomat assigned to an embassy or other diplomatic mission. The deputy chief of mission is usually considered the second ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, and has served as a Consular or Political Officer for the U.S. Missions in Poland, the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

, and South Africa since the beginning of his career in the Foreign Service in 1982. Prior to his assignment in Jakarta, Mull worked as Deputy Director of the State Department Operations Center, as Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, as Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs in the Bureau of European Affairs, and as Deputy Executive Secretary in the Office of the Secretary of State. On March 10, 2003, then-U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

nominated Mull as the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania. After being confirmed by the Senate, he assumed his position on August 26, 2003. He completed his tour of duty on July 18, 2006. On April 30, 2009, Mull testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on international efforts to combat piracy off the coast of

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. Mull is married to Cheri Stephan. The Mulls have one child, Ryan.

Ambassador to Poland

Stephen Mull was appointed the

United States Ambassador to Poland The history of ambassadors of the United States to Poland began in 1919. Until the end of World War I, Poland had been partitioned between Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. After the war and the collapse of the empires, Poland became an in ...

on October 24, 2012. He speaks Polish fluently.

Awards

* Director General's Award for Political Reporting, 1988 *

Superior Honor Award The Superior Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former U.S. Information Agency, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and USAID. It is presented to groups or individ ...

(four times) * Balker-Wilkins Award * Presidential Meritorious Service Award, 2003 *

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...

(5th Class), 1997 * Order for Merits to Lithuania (3rd Class), 2006''Apdovanotų asmenų duomenų bazė''
/ref> *

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(2nd Class), 2015

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mull, Stephen 1958 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Lithuania Ambassadors of the United States to Poland Georgetown University alumni Knights of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Obama administration personnel Politicians from Reading, Pennsylvania United States assistant secretaries of state United States career ambassadors United States Foreign Service personnel