Michael J. Murphy's term ended on September 24, 2021.
Michael J. Murphy, a 29-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, assumed his responsibilities as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European & Eurasian Affairs in June 18, 2018. He oversaw European security, including NATO, the OSCE, and conventional arms control, Northern Europe, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Nordic and Baltic countries, as well as Arctic Security. Michael holds the rank of Minister Counselor. From February 18 until September 1, 2019, Michael served as Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Immediately prior to his current posting, from 2017-2018, Michael served as Director of the Office for European Security & Political-Military Affairs in the Bureau of European & Eurasian Affairs. He served as the Associate Dean of the Leadership and Management School at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center from 2015-2017. Michael served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Gaborone, Botswana, from 2012-2015 and as Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., in Botswana from February 2014 to January 2015. He served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Pristina, Kosovo, from 2009 to 2012. Prior to his posting in Kosovo, Michael served for three years as Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Michael’s other overseas postings include London, United Kingdom; Yaoundé, Cameroon; and Lagos, Nigeria. In Washington, DC, Michael served as the Chief of Staff to both the Assistant Secretary of State for European & Eurasian Affairs and the Director General of the Foreign Service as well as Desk Officer for Bulgaria and for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Michael’s Foreign Service career included tenure in the Trans-Atlantic Fellowship Program through which U.S. diplomats serve in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of allied governments. He served from 2001-2002 in the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office as Office Director for Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1991, Michael worked in the U.S. Congress for three years as the Senior Legislative Aide to Congresswoman Marilyn Lloyd of Tennessee with responsibility for international affairs and defense issues. Michael Murphy is from East Greenbush, New York and is an avid New York Yankees fan. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Hamilton College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations. Michael and his wife are proud owners of five streets dogs they adopted in the Balkans and Botswana.