Ambassador William H. Itoh (ret.) is a Professor of the Practice in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is also a Senior Advisor to McLarty Associates, an international business consulting firm. Ambassador Itoh had a distinguished career in public service with the Department of State. From 1995-1999 he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand. He was the first Asian-American appointed as ambassador from the career Foreign Service. Prior to his appointment to Bangkok, he was Executive Secretary of the National Security Council at the White House (1993-1995).

During his career as a Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Itoh served abroad in the U.S. Embassy in London (1976-1978) and as the U.S. Consul General to Western Australia in Perth (1986-1990). His Washington assignments included service in the Office of the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Bureau of Congressional Relations. He was Deputy Executive Secretary and Acting Executive Secretary of the Department of State from 1991-1993.

As Ambassador to Thailand, Ambassador Itoh was the 1998 recipient of the Department of State’s Charles S. Cobb Award for outstanding support of the American business community. He was also awarded an honorary PHD in Economics by Khon Kaen University, presented by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej in December 1998, in recognition of his efforts in support of Thailand’s recovery during the Asian financial crisis.

Ambassador Itoh was born in Tokyo, Japan, and emigrated to Canada and then to the United States. He attended primary and secondary schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Social Science (1966) and an M.A. in History and Anthropology (1971). He was Assistant Professor of History at California State University, Humboldt (1972-1973). Ambassador Itoh was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force reserve in 1967 and served on active duty 1968-1969. He attended the National Defense University and was a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College class of 1991. He also attended the Capstone General Officers Course at NDU in 1995.

Ambassador Itoh is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as a member of Advisory Board of the University Center for International Studies at UNC and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kenan Institute Asia in Bangkok. He is past Chairman of the Albuquerque Committee on Foreign Relations and past President of the World Affairs Council of Albuquerque. He is also a member of the Battlefield Preservation Trust and serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the Glorieta Battlefield Preservation Society.

Ambassador Itoh now resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has two daughters, Charlotte, a lawyer in Albuquerque; and Caroline, a Vice President with the National Wildlife Federation.