Richard Yoneoka's term ended on July 7, 2023.
Richard “Rick” Yoneoka became the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs (TRA) in February 2022 after serving as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for TRA since December 2020 and Director of Aviation Negotiations. He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service.
Previously, he served as Consul General in Hamburg, Germany, Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission of Embassy Banjul, and as the Chief of Staff to the State Department’s Chief Economist. His other tours include Burundi, Germany, Venezuela, and the Office of Policy, Planning, and Coordination in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
A native of Rochester, New York, Rick has a Master of Science from the London School of Economics, a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University (NDU), and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and German from Tufts University. He is also a graduate of the Department of State’s Advanced Economics Seminar. Before joining the Foreign Service, Rick worked for a Member of Congress and taught English at the University of Lodz, Poland. His foreign languages include German and Spanish.