Allen, Craig B. (Craig Boyd), 1957-

Ambassador Craig Boyd Allen was sworn in as the United States ambassador to Brunei Darussalam on December 19, 2014. He served until July 20, 2018 when he resigned to succeed John Frisbie as President of the US-China Business Council.

Craig Allen has worked for the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration since 1985. He entered government as a Presidential Management Intern and, in this capacity, rotated through the four branches of the ITA. From 1986 to 1988, he worked as an international economist in the ITA China Office.

In 1988, Craig transferred to the American Institute in Taiwan where he served as Director of the American Trade Center in Taipei. He held in this position until 1992. In 1992, Craig re-joined the Department of Commerce for a three-year posting in Beijing, where he served as Commercial Attaché responsible for the chemical sector, consumer goods and medical equipment.

In 1995, Craig and his family transferred from the American Embassy in Beijing to the American Embassy in Tokyo. Initially, Craig served as a Commercial Attaché with responsibilities for consumer goods and standards. In 1998, however, he was promoted to Deputy Senior Commercial Officer with responsibilities for the entire section. In 1999, Craig became a member of the Senior Foreign Service.

In 2000, Craig and his family departed Tokyo for a two-year tour of duty at the National Center for APEC in Seattle. In Seattle, he worked on the APEC Summits in Brunei, China, and Mexico.

In 2002, Craig and his family moved to Beijing for a three-year tour as Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Mission to China. In this position, Craig managed the entire complement of 126 DOC staff in China from multiple DOC agencies. In Beijing, Craig was promoted to the Minister Counselor rank of the Senior Foreign Service.

In 2006, Craig and family transferred from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to the U.S. Embassy in South Africa to serve a four-year tour as Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg responsible for all 16 SADC countries.

In 2010, Craig became Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. He later became Deputy Assistant Secretary for China.

Craig received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in Political Science and Asian Studies in 1979. He received a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1985. While at Georgetown, Craig worked for the U.S. Congress on issues associated with technology transfer to China.

In total, Craig has lived in Asia for 27 years, including 16 years in Japan and approximately 11 years in China and Taiwan. He has visited every country in Asia except Laos, North Korea and Bhutan. His most recent language scores were 3+/4 in Japanese and 4/4 in Mandarin Chinese.

Craig is married and has two children. Craig spends his free time running and regularly competes in marathons and ultra marathon races.