Todd Crawford Chapman (born 1962) is an American career diplomat who has served as the

United States ambassador to Brazil The following is a list of ambassadors of the United States, or other chiefs of mission, to Brazil. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary''. ...

from 2020 to 2021 and as the

United States ambassador to Ecuador The following is a list of ambassadors of the United States, or other chiefs of mission, to Ecuador. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.'' A ...

from 2016 to 2019. As a career

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carr ...

officer, Chapman joined the State Department in 1990 and became a Minister Counselor in the Senior Foreign Service. He has held many positions within the

State Department 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 ...

, including as U.S. ambassador to Ecuador from 2016 to 2019 and U.S. ambassador to Brazil from 2020 to 2021. He arrived in Brazil on March 29, 2020, and presented his credentials to the President of Brazil the following day. He retired from the foreign service in July 2021.

Early life and education

Chapman was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas. When he was a child, he moved with his family to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil. Chapman lived in Brazil through secondary school, graduating from Escola Maria Imaculada. Chapman earned an A.B. in history from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the

Joint Military Intelligence College The National Intelligence University (NIU) is a federally chartered research university in Bethesda, Maryland operated by and for the United States Intelligence Community (IC) as its staff college of higher learning in fields of study central ...

in 2000.

Career

In 2001, Chapman was assigned as an Economic Officer in San Jose, Costa Rica. In 2004, he was appointed Political/Economic/Commercial Counselor at the embassy in

La Paz, Bolivia La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz ( Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bolivia. Its metropolitan area ...

. In 2006 he served as executive assistant in the

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) is a part of the U.S. Department of State, charged with implementing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere, as well as advising the Under Secretary of State fo ...

, and in 2007 he served as

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 ...

in Maputo, Mozambique. He served as Senior Diplomatic Coordinator for Economic Affairs in Kabul, Afghanistan, from 2010 to 2011. In 2011, he was assigned as

to Brasília, Brazil. In 2015 Chapman was appointed

United States Ambassador to Ecuador The following is a list of ambassadors of the United States, or other chiefs of mission, to Ecuador. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.'' A ...

by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Chapman presented his credentials as

on April 14, 2016, and served until June 8, 2019. On October 30, 2019, 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 ...

nominated Chapman to become

United States Ambassador to Brazil The following is a list of ambassadors of the United States, or other chiefs of mission, to Brazil. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary''. ...

. On February 11, 2020, the

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

confirmed his nomination by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. Some observers criticized Chapman for appearing to take a friendly stance toward Brazilian president

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

. In June 2021, citing personal reasons, Chapman announced his intention to retire and to spend the next thirty days continuing to strengthen relations between the United States and Brazil. On June 9, 2021, Todd Chapman communicated to US President Joe Biden his request for retirement from the State Department service for personal reasons, ending a career spanning three decades. He officially left his post and retired on July 23, 2021.

Postings

(2016 to 2019) * Washington D.C., Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs (2014) * Brasília, Brazil,

(2011) * Kabul, Afghanistan, Senior Diplomatic Coordinator for Economic Affairs, U.S. Embassy Kabul (2010 to 2011) * Maputo, Mozambique, Deputy Chief of Mission (2007) * Washington D.C., Executive Assistant,

(2006) * La Paz, Bolivia, Political/Economic/Commercial Counselor * San Jose, Costa Rica, Economic Officer (2001) * Abuja, Nigeria, Energy Officer (1997) * Maputo, Mozambique, Economic/Commercial officer (1993) * Taipei, Taiwan, Consular Officer at

American Institute in Taiwan The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT; ) is the ''de facto'' embassy of the United States of America in Taiwan. AIT is a wholly owned subsidiary of the federal government of the United States in Taiwan with Congressional oversight. The AIT was ...

(1991)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Todd C. 1962 births Living people People from Houston Duke University alumni United States Foreign Service personnel National Intelligence University alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Ecuador American Institute in Taiwan people Ambassadors of the United States to Brazil 21st-century American diplomats

Early life and education

Career

Postings

See also

References