Deputy Chief of Mission Michael W. Michalak

Biography

Michael W. Michalak, a career Foreign Service Officer with extensive knowledge and experience in Asia, was appointed Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Embassy, Tokyo in April 2004. When the Ambassador is outside Japan, Mr. Michalak serves as Charge d'Affaires ad interim.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Michalak served for almost four years as the Minister-Counselor in the Embassy's Economic Section.

In his over 30 years of service with the U.S. Department of State, Minister Michalak has worked in Sydney, Australia; Islamabad, Pakistan; Beijing, China; as well as Washington, D.C., where he was assigned to the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, the Office for Japan and the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs. He received a meritorious service award for his extraordinary leadership in time of crisis when the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad was burned down.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Minister Michalak received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Physics from Oakland University in Rochester, MI and The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. respectively. He received a second Master's degree in Public Administration from The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. He speaks Chinese, Japanese and French.

Minister Michalak and his wife Yoshiko have a 12 year-old daughter, Kaye. He also has two grown daughters from a previous marriage, Melissa and Julie, who live in the United States.