Dean R. Thompson

Dean Richard Thompson (born 1967) is an American diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to Nepal starting in October 2022.

Early life and education

Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts from Wittenberg University, a Master of Arts from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, and a Master of Science in national security strategy from the National War College of the National Defense University.

Career

Thompson is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of minister-counselor. Since 2021, he has served as the principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs within the United States Department of State, and was the acting assistant secretary from 2020 to 2021. Earlier in his career, Thompson has served as consul general of the U.S. Consulate in Kolkata, India. He was the deputy chief of mission of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the deputy chief of mission and chargé d'affaires, a.i. of the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania.

Among other assignments, he served as director of the State Department's Executive Secretariat staff, deputy director of the State Department Operations Center, director of the Operations Center crisis management staff, and deputy director for information resources management for the executive secretariat. Thompson speaks Romanian and Bengali. Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 13, 2022. The committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor on July 19, 2022. His nomination was confirmed by the full Senate on August 5, 2022.

Thompson presented his credentials to President Bidya Devi Bhandari on October 21, 2022.

Personal life In addition to English, Thompson speaks Romanian and Bengali.