Edgard Kagan was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, responsible for relations with Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, in July 2012. A Foreign Service officer since 1991, he served as Director of Korean Affairs from 2010-2012, including serving as acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Japan and Korea from August 2011 to January 2012. Edgard served as Economic and then Political-Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia from 2007-2010.
Edgard served as External Unit Chief in the Embassy of Beijing Political Section from 2005 - 2007 after working as the North Korea watcher in the Political Section from 2004 – 2005. He worked on the State Department’s China Desk from 2000 – 2002.
Edgard also served at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv from 1997 – 2000, working on Middle East peace process and reporting on Israeli domestic politics as well as human rights issues. In addition, he served as Staff Assistant on the Policy Planning Staff from 1996-1997. Edgard worked in Hungary as a political officer (where he also served as a consular officer) and Cote d’Ivoire, where he started his Foreign Service career.
A 1989 graduate cum laude of Yale University, Edgard worked for the New York City Bureau of Bridges from 1989-1991, including as the Director of Fiscal and Budget in the Operations Division. He speaks French and Mandarin as well as some Hungarian and Spanish.
