Ted Osius

Former ambassador Ted Osius is President and CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council. A diplomat for nearly thirty years, Osius served as U.S. ambassador to Vietnam from 2014 to 2017. He played a crucial role in strengthening U.S.-Vietnam relations by deepening security ties, securing commercial deals, expanding educational exchange, and addressing historical issues. Osius' leadership and strategic initiatives significantly transformed the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

As he worked to improve U.S.-Vietnam relations, Osius came to know the heroes who sought to reconcile our nations, including John Kerry, John McCain, Pete Peterson and Le Van Bang. Under four Presidents and seven Secretaries of State, Osius contributed to reconciliation not just between governments, but between former combatants, and the people of both nations. The first openly gay U.S. ambassador to serve in East Asia, he was only the second career diplomat in U.S. history to achieve that rank.

Prior to his appointment, Osius served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Jakarta, Political Minister-Counselor in New Delhi, deputy director of the Office of Korean Affairs at the State Department, regional environment officer for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and senior advisor on Asia and trade to Vice President Al Gore. He also served in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, and at the United Nations.

After his departure from government, Osius joined Google Asia-Pacific as Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy, covering 19 Asian nations from Google’s Singapore headquarters. Earlier, he was a senior advisor at the Albright-Stonebridge Group, the first Vice President of Fulbright University Vietnam, associate professor at the National War College, and Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Osius earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and an honorary doctorate from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce Vietnam.