Tom Armbruster ’80 named U.S. Ambassador to the Marshall Islands

Alumnus Thomas Hart Armbruster of New York, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, is the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. He will be sworn in Aug. 16 at a Washington, D.C., State Department ceremony.

Armbruster has served in overseas assignments in Finland, Cuba, Mexico and Vladivostok, and most recently, he was stateside as a Diplomat-in-Residence at The City University of New York and recruiter for the State Department in the northeast region.

He returned to McDaniel in January 2011 as a guest speaker for the Great Decisions series and as an invited guest for the SmartTALK series with President Casey.

Armbruster’s work has been recognized with several awards from the State Department, and he is an expert at demystifying the application process for students seeking internships and careers with the U.S. State Department and Foreign Service. He has given talks on such topics as the role of spouses in the Foreign Service, women as career diplomats, drug violence in northern Mexico, and encounters with rock stars as ambassadors.

Armbruster earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from WMC (now McDaniel) and holds master’s degrees from the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., in International Security, and St. Mary’s University in San Antonio in International Relations.

He is married to College alumna, Kathy Chandler ’78, a native of Westminster, who has accompanied him on six overseas assignments and will join him in the Marshall Islands for the three-year assignment.

Prior to joining the State Department, Armbruster worked as a broadcast journalist in Hawaii and Maryland and as a freelance reporter for NPR in Washington, D.C.

http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Armbruster_Testimony.pdf