Bio: George F. Ward Jr.

Ambassador (retired) George F. Ward Jr. is Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance in the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.

Ward is currently detailed from his position as director of the Professional Training Program at the United States Institute of Peace.  He joined the Institute in 1999 after a thirty year career in the Foreign Service, which concluded with his appointment as United States ambassador to the Republic of Namibia in 1996-1999.  In Namibia, he managed a successful humanitarian de-mining program and initiated a campaign against gender violence.

As principal deputy assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs in 1992-96, Ward helped formulate United States policy on multilateral peacekeeping and managed the policy process on United Nations political questions.  During his assignment as deputy chief of mission in Germany in 1989-92, Ward played a leading role in the negotiations that led to German unification.  He received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award for his service in Germany.  During earlier Foreign Service assignments in Germany, Italy and Washington, he worked extensively on European security questions.  Prior to his Foreign Service career, Ward was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, serving in the United States and Vietnam.  He holds a B.A. in history from University of Rochester and an M.P.A. with a concentration in systems analysis from Harvard University.

Source: Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance