About
Ambassador John T. Hennessey-Niland (Ret) is a former U.S. ambassador, having served for over 35 years as a career diplomat. Focused on key issues impacting world affairs, peace and prosperity, particularly in Asia, the Indo-Pacific, and Europe. He has worked in the White House and at the National Security Council responsible for international summits, as a UN War Crimes Investigator in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and at a number of Embassies in Europe, notably Paris twice, Dublin, and the Hague, as well as in multiple leadership position in the Pacific, including Palau, Fiji, Australia, and Hawai’i, where he was the foreign policy advisor to the Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific.
He is one of the most experienced “Island hands” ever to serve in the Department of State. John is currently a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Senior Fellow at the National Defense University Joint Staff College and the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, and Head of the Diplomacy Concentration and Professor of Practice at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He is a former collegiate soccer player and is the coach of the A&M Men's Soccer Club. John speaks regularly aboard cruise ships and is an author, educator, media commentator, and natural storyteller. Mr. Hennessey-Niland has dual Irish-U.S. nationality.