William A. Stanton Appointed as Director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan

PR-0930E | Date: 07/02/2009

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) is pleased to announce the selection of William A. Stanton as the new Director of its Taipei office, succeeding Mr. Stephen M. Young. Mr. Stanton will assume his new duties in August 2009 after consultations in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Stanton was born in New Jersey and was educated at Fordham University, where he received his B.A., and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received an M.A. and Ph.D. He also studied at Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany.

Mr. Stanton's most recent assignment within the Department of State was as Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Korea. Prior to that, he served both as Charge d'Affaires ad interim and as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia. Mr. Stanton has also been the Director of the Office of UN Political Affairs, the Director of the Office of Egyptian and North African Affairs, the Deputy Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs, and the Special Assistant for East Asia and Pacific Affairs for the Under Secretary for Political Affairs. Mr. Stanton's overseas assignments include language studies at the American Institute in Taiwan, Taipei, tours in Lebanon and in Pakistan, and two tours in Beijing.

Mr. Stanton is married to Foreign Service Officer Karen Clark Stanton. They have two daughters, Katherine (22) and Elizabeth (18).

The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 designated the American Institute in Taiwan as the instrumentality to conduct the commercial, cultural and other relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan.