Mike Hammer was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs on March 30, 2012. Previously, Mike served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs since March 13, 2011 and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs before that.
Prior to the Bureau of Public Affairs, Mike served at the White House as special assistant to the President, Senior Director for Press and Communications, and National Security Council Spokesman from January 2009-January 2011. He previously served at the National Security Council as Deputy Spokesman from 1999-2000 and Director of Andean Affairs from 2000-2001.
Mike Hammer is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service and entered the diplomatic corps in 1988. He has served abroad in Bolivia, Norway, Iceland and Denmark. In the Department, Mike has served in the Operations Center and as special assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs. He has received several awards in his career, including the Department’s Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy.
Mike earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and master's degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and from the National War College at the National Defense University.
Mike grew up in Latin America, living in Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil. Mike is fluent in Spanish and speaks French and Icelandic.
