Nomination of Joseph Edward Lake To Be United States Ambassador to Mongolia

The President today announced his intention to nominate Joseph Edward Lake, of Texas, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Mongolian People's Republic. He would succeed Richard Llewellyn Williams.

Since 1987 Mr. Lake has served as director of the operations center at the Department of State in Washington, DC. Prior to this, he served as an adviser to the U.S. delegation to the 41st United Nations General Assembly, 1986; Deputy Director of the Office of Regional Affairs for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State, 1985 - 1986; counselor and deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1984 - 1985; Charge d'Affaires for the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, 1984; counselor and deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, 1984; first secretary and chief of the political/economic section at the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, 1982 - 1984; language student in the Foreign Service Institute, 1981 - 1982; consul and principal officer for the U.S. consulate in Kaduna, Nigeria, 1978 - 1981; and second secretary and political officer for the U.S. Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, 1977 - 1978. In addition, Mr. Lake has served as a political-military officer for the Office of Philippine Affairs in the Bureau of East Asian Affairs at the Department of State, 1976 - 1977; second secretary and political officer for the U.S. Embassy in Taipei, 1973 - 1976; language student for the American Embassy in China, 1971 - 1973; and analyst in the Office of Research for East Asia in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the Department of State, 1969 - 1971. Prior to this, Mr. Lake served in several capacities in Canada, Dahomey, and China. He joined the Foreign Service in 1962.

Mr. Lake graduated from Texas Christian University (B.A., 1962; M.A., 1967). He was born October 18, 1941, in Jacksonville, TX. Mr. Lake is married, has three children, and resides in Falls Church, VA.