Marc Ostfield's term ended on February 18, 2022.
Marc Ostfield was appointed Ombudsman for the U.S. Department of State in October 2018 – where he leads Department workplace processes worldwide to address conflicts and identify solutions. From 2013-2018, Dr. Ostfield served as Acting Director and Deputy Director of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), responsible for the training of U.S. Government foreign affairs professionals in everything from diplomacy to languages to leadership. As Director of the Office of Policy and Global Issues in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR/PGI) from 2009-2013, he directed U.S. foreign policy on cross-cutting issues with Europe and Eurasia, including terrorism, corruption, environment, human rights, and human trafficking. And, he served from 2002-2009 as Senior Advisor on Bioterrorism, Biodefense, and Health Security in the Department’s Office of International Health and Biodefense (OES/IHB). From 1987-2002, he created and led large-scale HIV/AIDS and global health programs worldwide. Over the course of his career, he has worked in more than 50 countries throughout Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Near East – and with U.S. and international organizations including the EU, OAS, NATO, OSCE, APEC, ASEAN, the World Health Organization, INTERPOL, UNDP, and the World Bank.
Dr. Ostfield has published and presented extensively on foreign policy, national security, and global health – and is a researcher and educator specializing in group dynamics, organizational behavior, negotiation, and leadership. A career member of the U.S. Government’s Senior Executive Service (SES), Dr. Ostfield has received numerous U.S. Government, professional, and academic honors – including the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award, the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center’s (NCTC) Meritorious Unit Citation, multiple Superior Honor and Meritorious Honor awards from the U.S. Department of State, the Diplomacy Fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, multiple SES Performance Awards, the Jacob K. Javits Award from the U.S. Department of Education, and the President’s Volunteer Service Award as a volunteer firefighter since 1995. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication – and speaks Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and French.