Assistant Secretaries of State for Consular Affairs
NOTE TO READERS
Updates to the Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission database are currently suspended. For information about the Department’s current and recent leadership, we recommend visiting the Department of State homepage’s Biographies of Senior Officials and List of U.S. Ambassadors.
Notice posted on January 12, 2024.
Last
updated March 14, 2024.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (Jun 27, 1952; P.L. 82-414; 66 Stat. 174) established within the Department of State a Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, headed by an Administrator with rank equal to that of an Assistant Secretary. From Mar 1 to Dec 30, 1954, the Bureau was renamed “Inspection, Security, and Consular Affairs.” From 1953 to 1962, the Secretary of State designated incumbents to this position. The Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (Jun 28, 1962; P.L. 87-510; 76 Stat. 123) made the Administrator a Presidential appointee subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. In 1962, the Department transferred the security function to the Deputy Under Secretary for Administration, but the title remained unchanged until 1977, when the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1978 (Aug 17, 1977; P.L. 95-105; 91 Stat. 847) changed the Administrator’s title to “Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs.” This title has been given in full in all subsequent commissions to this office.
- Robert Walter Scott McLeod (1953–1957)
- Roderic L. O’Connor (1957–1958)
- Abba Philip Schwartz (1962–1966)
- Barbara Mae Watson (1968–1974)
- Leonard Frederick Walentynowicz (1975–1977)
- Barbara Mae Watson (1977–1980)
- Diego Cortes Asencio (1980–1983)
- Joan Margaret Clark (1983–1989)
- Elizabeth M. Tamposi (1989–1992)
- Mary A. Ryan (1993–2002)
- Maura Ann Harty (2002–2008)
- Janice Lee Jacobs (2008–2014)
- Michele Thoren Bond (2015–2017)
- Carl C. Risch (2017)