Lukens, Lewis Alan, 1963-

Lewis Alan Lukens is an American diplomat. From August 2016 until January 2019, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in London. He had previously served as Acting Ambassador at the embassy and as Ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau from October 2011 until June 2014. Since leaving the foreign service, Lukens has worked for Signum Global Advisors as a senior partner and Caspian Strategies LLC as founder and CEO.

Born on December 25, 1963 in Paris, France, the child of a foreign service officer, Lukens lived in Morocco, Kenya and Denmark as a child before moving stateside. He graduated from St. Paul Catholic School in Princeton, New Jersey in 1982 and earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 1986 from Princeton University. He returned to Princeton in 2002 and earned a masters in public policy.

After joining the Foreign Service in 1989, Lukens’ first two tours were in Guangzhou, China, (1990) and Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (1992). He later served management officer in Sydney, Australia (1995), management counselor in Dublin, Ireland (2003) and as executive secretary in Baghdad, Iraq (2004).

Lukens has served in a variety of positions in the State Department and the White House. He was senior director for administration at the National Security Council during and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, served in the State Department’s Executive Secretariat, and worked as special assistant to the director general of the Foreign Service.

He was U.S. Consul General in Vancouver, Canada, from 2005-2008. In this capacity, he oversaw the work of eight government agencies and managed a range of trade, border, national security, and public diplomacy issues. Prior to becoming ambassador, Lukens returned to the State Department’s Executive Secretariat, this time as executive director managing the office that provides travel, information technology, human resource, budget, security, and contracting support to the secretary of state and other State Department leaders. From October 2011 until June 2014, Lukens was U.S. Ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.

Lukens and his wife, Lucy, have two daughters.