Sean McCormack is a former United States Assistant Secretary of State

United States Assistant Secretary of State

In modern times, Assistant Secretary of State is a title used for many executive positions in the United States State Department. A set of six Assistant Secretaries reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs manage diplomatic missions within their designated geographic regions, plus one...

. He was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs

The Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Public Affairs within the United States Department of State. Typically, the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs is also the official spokesperson of the State Department...

 and Department Spokesman on June 2, 2005, and served until January 20, 2009.

Early career

McCormack graduated from Colby College

Colby College

Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...

 in 1986 with a Bachelor’s degree in economics. He received an M.A. in international relations from the University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

 in 1990

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, McCormack was an analyst at the Meridian Corporation working on issues related to arms control and non-proliferation.

Department of State career

McCormack began his career in the Foreign Service

United States Foreign Service

The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...

 in 1995. He served at the U.S. embassy in Ankara

Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....

 from 1996 to 1998, where he was assigned as the Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

-speaking officer in the consular section. He was posted to the U.S. embassy in Algiers

Algiers

' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...

 from 1998 to 1999, with responsibility for economic reporting and consular issues.

McCormack was posted to the State Department Operations Center in 1999 before moving to the Executive Secretariat Staff ("The Line"). He was detailed to the National Security Council

United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...

 Staff in 2001.

Immediately prior to returning to the State Department, McCormack was Special Assistant to the President, Spokesman for the National Security Council, and Deputy White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 Press Secretary for Foreign Policy.

Later career

McCormack currently serves as Vice-President for Communications in the Washington DC office of Boeing

Boeing

The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

.

External links

• Probe of USS Cole Bombing Unravels Washington Post May 4, 2008
• His Department of State Biography
• Sean McCormack's Twitter Stream