Robert D. Griffiths will provide an overview of his career as a Foreign Service officer. Griffiths will describe his career path, provide career advice, and discuss life lessons.

Recently retired as a senior U.S. Foreign Service officer, rank of minister counselor, he is currently an instructor in Chinese politics at the University of Utah and at Brigham Young University. Previously, Griffiths taught economics and Chinese studies at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.  During his thirty-four-year career with the U.S. Department of State, he lived and worked in greater China for fourteen years, most recently as U.S. Consul General in Shanghai (2011–14), with earlier postings abroad in Beijing, Bangkok, Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Bogota. Griffiths served in the U.S. Senate for a year as foreign policy advisor to Harry Reid (D-NV) and worked in the Asia Policy shop in the office of the secretary of defense. He speaks Chinese and Thai.