Deputy Chief of Mission
Deputy Chief of Mission
Mark A. Pekala
Mark Pekala assumed his duties as Deputy Chief of Mission in the U.S. Embassy in Paris in June 2007. From 2005 to 2007, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs; in this capacity, Mr. Pekala oversaw U.S. bilateral relations with fifteen Nordic, Baltic, and Central European countries.
Mr. Pekala was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, Estonia, from 2002 to 2005. Before serving in Tallinn, he was Director for Russian Affairs on the National Security Council staff. Previous to serving at the White House, he was Senior Watch Officer in the State Department's Operations Center (2000-2001) and Special Assistant to the Ambassador-at- Large for the New Independent States (1999-2000).
From 1998 to1999, Mr. Pekala was a Dean and Virginia Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University, teaching graduate seminars on U.S.-Russian Relations and European Security. From 1995 to 1998, he was First Secretary at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium, where he contributed to the drafting and negotiation of the NATO-Russia Founding Act and NATO’s revised "Strategic Concept." Tours previous to NATO included Warsaw, Poland, the State Department's Russia Desk,and the Bureau for Political-Military Affairs.
Mr. Pekala has received eight State Department Superior Honor Awards (five for individual achievements and three for group accomplishments), two Meritorious Honor Awards, the W. Averell Harriman Award, and the Matilda W. Sinclaire Language Award. He is an alumnus of the University of Michigan. From Columbia University he received the Master of International Affairs degree, the Certificate from the W. Averell Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union, and the Master of Philosophy degree in Political Science (all with a specialization in Soviet foreign and defense policy).
Mr. Pekala speaks Estonian, French, Polish, and Russian. He and his wife have two daughters.