Thomas C. Adams was named Special Coordinator for Haiti in September 2010 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Mr. Adams is returning to the Department after retiring in June of 2008 from a 35-year career in the U.S. Government, with much of it focused on managing foreign assistance.
Mr. Adams was designated Coordinator of Assistance to Europe and Eurasia in February 2005 by President Bush, and served in that position until his retirement, responsible for the design and implementation of all U.S. assistance programs for the 29 countries that emerged from communism in Europe and Eurasia. Prior to that, he served as the Deputy Coordinator for 5 years, and spent 2 years as the Deputy Director of the Department’s Management Policy and Planning Staff. He also spent 11 years as a Foreign Service Officer, serving as a management officer in Zanzibar, Hungary, Belgium and the Department of State, and 11 years at the U.S. Customs Service, rising to become a Director of International Programs.
During his retirement, Mr. Adams taught at the Foreign Service Institute. He also served as the Vice Chairman of the Romanian American Foundation, a $150 million grant-making organization which supports education and other initiatives aimed at promoting a strong market economy and the rule of law in Romania. He also served on the Board of the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund.
He is the recipient of a number of State Department awards, including four Meritorious Honor Awards, two Superior Honor Awards, the Ben Franklin Award, and the Director General’s Cup for the Civil Service. He was the International Affairs Employee of the Year in 1993 at the U.S. Customs Service for his work on enforcing the economic embargo on Serbia and Montenegro. His languages are French, Hungarian and Swahili.
Mr. Adams graduated from the University of Virginia in 1972 with a B.A. in History. While there, he was editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper, The Cavalier Daily.