William B. Taylor, Jr.

William B. Taylor is the current United States ambassador to Ukraine.

He was confirmed in this post by the U.S. Senate on May 26, 2006 and was sworn in on June 5, 2006.

Until February 2006 he was the U.S. Government's representative to the Quartet's effort to facilitate the Israeli disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, led by Special Envoy James Wolfensohn in Jerusalem. The Quartet Special Envoy was responsible for the economic aspects of this disengagement.

Prior to this assignment, he served in Baghdad as Director, Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (2004-2005), in Kabul as coordinator of USG and international assistance to Afghanistan (2002-2003) and in Washington with the rank of ambassador as coordinator of USG assistance to the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (1992-2002).

He previously served in Brussels as deputy defense advisor at the U.S. Mission to NATO, in Washington on the staff of Senator Bill Bradley, at the National Defense University and in the U.S. Department of Energy.

As an infantry officer in the U.S. Army, he served in Vietnam and Germany.

He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

He is married with two children.

References

*U.S. Department of State biography: [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/70367.htm]