Ambassador Loftis is Special Representative for Avian and Pandemic Influenza at the Department of State. Prior to taking up his current duties in March 2009, he was the Deputy Commandant and Senior Advisor for International Affairs of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at National Defense University, where he also taught Strategic Leadership.
Ambassador Loftis served as the Senior Advisor for Security Negotiations and Agreements in the Bureau of Political Military Affairs in the Department of State from August 2004 to July 2007. His primary responsibilities were to negotiate status of forces and base access agreements for the deployment of United States forces abroad, as well to negotiate burden-sharing agreements with allies and partners. In early 2008, he was the lead negotiator for a status of forces agreement with Iraq. He was also the Deputy Executive Director of the Implementation Planning Team for the creation of the Africa Command (AFRICOM).
Mr. Loftis also served as United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho from September 2001 to July 2004, where he focused on the promotion of democratic institutions, economic and trade development, and the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Prior to that, Ambassador Loftis served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Maputo, Mozambique. Previous overseas assignments include Political Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, Political/Economic Officer in Brasilia, Brazil, and General Services Officer in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Domestic assignments included Deputy Director of the Office of Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Operations, Action Officer in the Office of Strategic and Theater Policy, Country Officer for Burma and staff assistant in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs.
Mr. Loftis joined the Foreign Service in May 1980. He speaks Portuguese and French and has received several Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards.
He earned his B.A. in Political Science with Distinction and Honors from Colorado State University in 1979. His hobbies are cycling (road and mountain), skiing, hiking and reading history, biography and science fiction.
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