Michael Heath, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor, is Deputy Assistant Secretary for West Africa in the Bureau of African Affairs.
Michael was previously Charge d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in Bangkok, Thailand (2019-2022). He has also served as acting Deputy Chief of Mission in Canberra, Australia (2016-2019), Consul General in Chiang Mai, Thailand (2013-2016), chief of the economic policy analysis unit in Beijing, China (2009-2013), and senior country officer for Indonesia and Malaysia in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2002-2005). He also had diplomatic assignments in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Georgetown, Guyana, and served in the Bureau of African Affairs during the development of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Michael has received multiple Superior Honor and Meritorious Honor Awards, and a Special Recognition Award from the Secretary of State and Secretary of Labor for efforts to combat human trafficking.
Michael hails from California, where he earned a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University. He speaks Thai and French.