John Dimitri Negroponte was born on July 21, 1939, in London, England, to Dimitri John Negroponte, a shipping magnate, and Catherine (Coumantaros) Negroponte. He graduated from Yale University in 1960 and speaks five languages: English, French, Greek, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Early Career

Negroponte attended Harvard Law School for one week before being accepted into the Foreign Service. He served in the Career Foreign Service from 1960 to 1997, holding various posts in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In 1968-1969, he was a member of the US delegation to the Paris peace talks on Vietnam.

From 1973 to 1975, Negroponte served as a political counselor in Quito, Ecuador. He then became the US Consul General in Thessaloniki, Greece, from 1975 to 1977. Negroponte was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Fisheries Affairs from 1977 to 1979 and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 1980 to 1981.

Latter Career

Negroponte was the US Ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985, the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Environmental and Scientific Affairs from 1985 to 1987, and the Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from 1987 to 1989. He served as the US Ambassador to Mexico from 1989 to 1993 and the US Ambassador to the Philippines from 1993 to 1996.

From 1997 to 2001, Negroponte was the Executive Vice President at McGraw-Hill Companies. He then became the US Ambassador to the United Nations from 2001 to 2004. In 2004, Negroponte was nominated as the US Ambassador to Iraq and later became the country’s first director of national intelligence in 2005.

Negroponte was the Deputy Secretary of State from 2007 to 2009. He has also taught at Yale and George Washington University. Currently, he serves as the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Public Affairs.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.