State Department Selects Jeffrey Culver to Head Diplomatic Security Service

Washington, DC

November 6, 2009

Mr. Jeffrey W. Culver, a special agent with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS), has been selected as Director of the Diplomatic Security Service and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security. The Bureau has more than 35,000 employees worldwide.

Special Agent Culver was appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. He is the tenth person to hold this position.

Culver is the son of William and Dolores Culver, formerly of Herkimer, New York, and now of Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania. He is a 1978 graduate of Mohawk High School. He received a B.S. from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1982.

According to Culver, he was returning to Dulles Airport three weeks ago from a trip to Iraq when his Blackberry buzzed. He immediately returned the call and found it was Ambassador Eric J. Boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, calling to offer him the position. He gladly accepted. “I never expected to be among such a select group. The magnitude of this job is just now sinking in.”

Culver entered Diplomatic Security in September 1987. During his 22 years with the Bureau, he served 13 years overseas as Regional Security Officer at U.S. embassies in Israel, India, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates, and Tanzania. Culver later rose to the position of Director of the Office of Antiterrorism Assistance, overseeing an international training program that he calls "one of the best jobs DS." The $145-million dollar program currently provides antiterrorism assistance and training to law enforcement and civilian security agencies of 72 partner countries.

State Dept Image/Nov 06, 2009
Jeffrey W. Culver in his Arlington, Virginia office, November 2009. (U.S. Department of State Photo.)

The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the U.S. Department of State’s law enforcement and security arm. The special agents, engineers, and security professionals of the Bureau are responsible for the security of 285 U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world. In the United States, Diplomatic Security personnel investigate passport and visa fraud, conduct personnel security investigations, and protect the Secretary of State and high-ranking foreign dignitaries and officials visiting the United States. Additional information about the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security may be obtained at www.state.gov/m/ds.

Contact:
James J. Finkle
Ph: 571.345.2504
Fax: 571.345.2527
finkleJJ@state.gov