Richard M. Mills, Jr.

Early life and education Mills was born in Louisiana, and grew up in Michigan. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University, a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law, and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National Defense University.

Career Legal career Prior to his Foreign Service career, Mills was an associate attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of Duncan, Allen and Mitchell, and then at the Washington, D.C. office of Wickwire, Gavin and Gibbs.

Diplomatic career Mills's first tour as a Foreign Service Officer was at the U.S. embassy in Paris in 1988, where he served as a consular officer and staff assistant to Ambassador Walter Curley. He has had assignments in the Executive Secretariat at the Department of State (1996–1998), Dublin (1999–2001), the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York City (2001–2003), Islamabad (2003–2004), Riyadh (2005–2006), London (2006–2009), Baghdad (2009–2010), and Valletta (2010–2012).

Mills holds the personal rank of Minister-Counselor in the United States Senior Foreign Service. He was a nominee for the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Year Award in 2012, and has received nine Superior Honor Awards from the Department of State. He speaks fluent French and conversational Russian. He arrived on November 8, 2020.

Ambassador to Nigeria On July 11, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Mills to be the next United States ambassador to Nigeria. On July 28, 2022, his nomination was sent to the Senate. His nomination was not acted upon for the rest of the year and was returned to Biden on January 3, 2023.

President Biden renominated Mills the same day and a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 1, 2023. The committee favorably reported his nomination on July 13, 2023 and the Senate confirmed his nomination on May 2, 2024 by voice vote. He presented his credentials to President of Nigeria on July 25, 2024.

Previous roles in the Foreign Service

Consular Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France (1988–1990) Desk Officer in the Bureau of Soviet Union Affairs, Washington D.C. (1990–1993) Political Officer at the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia (1993–1995) Legislative Affairs Officer at the Office of Legislative Affairs, Washington D.C. (1995–1996) Line Director in the Executive Secretariat at the Department of State, Washington D.C. (1996–1998) Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland (1999–2001) Political Officer at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, New York (2001–2003) Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan (2003–2004) Energy Attaché and Acting Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2005–2006) Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in London, United Kingdom (2006–2009) Senior Democracy Advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq (2009–2010) Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Valletta, Malta (2010–2012) Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon (2012–2014) Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia (2015–2018) Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada (2018–2020) Deputy Representative, with rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York, and Deputy Representative to the U.N. Security Council (2020–2021)

Personal life Mills is married to Leigh Gabrielle Carter, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer.