Thomas J. Christensen
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Department of State
Thomas J. Christensen is Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs with responsibility for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia.
He is on public service leave from Princeton University, where he is Professor of Politics and International Affairs and Director of the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program. His research and teaching focus on China’s foreign relations and the international relations of East Asia. Before arriving at Princeton in 2003, Professor Christensen taught at Cornell University and MIT. He received his B.A. from Haverford College, M.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.
Professor Christensen has served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and as co-editor of the International History and Politics series at Princeton University Press. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. As an academic, he has consulted often for the U.S.
Government and in 2002 was presented with a Distinguished Public Service Award by the United States Department of State.