Mills, Richard Merrill, 1959-

On September 17, 2014, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Richard M. Mills Jr., a career Foreign Service officer, to be the next ambassador to Armenia. If confirmed, it would be the first ambassadorial posting for Mills and a homecoming of sorts; he was the first State Department desk officer for Armenia after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Mills is from Texas and attended Georgetown University, earning his B.S. in Foreign Service in 1981. His next stop was law school at the University of Texas in Austin, where he earned a J.D. in 1984. Mills practiced law for a few years as an associate at the Washington law firms of Wickwire, Gavin and Gibbs and subsequently Duncan, Allen and Mitchell until 1987.

His first assignment after joining the Foreign Service came in 1988 as a consular officer and staff aide at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. In 1990, Mills was back in Washington as a desk officer in the Bureau of Soviet Union Affairs and then was made desk officer for Armenia and Azerbaijan. He was sent to Russia in 1993 as a political officer in the St. Petersburg consulate.

Mills returned to the State Department in 1995 as a legislative affairs officer and the following year was a line director in the Executive Secretariat in the office of the Secretary of State. He was sent to Ireland in 1999 as the economic/commercial officer at the embassy in Dublin until 2001, when he was assigned as political officer at the U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York.

In 2003, Mills was sent to Pakistan as political officer at the U.S. Embassy, and in 2005 to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as economic officer and acting economic counselor at that embassy. Next, he was moved to London as political officer in 2006, but he returned to the Middle East in 2009 as a senior democracy advisor in Baghdad, Iraq.

Mills went to Malta in 2010 as deputy chief of mission, and for a time as chargé d’affaires, at the embassy in Valetta. While there, he helped coordinate the evacuation of Americans and other foreign nationals from Libya during the unrest in that country in 2011. He also helped dedicate the new U.S. Embassy in Malta. In 2012, Mills went to Beirut as deputy chief of mission, where he served until his nomination.

One of the challenges Mills must face as ambassador to Armenia is that 2015 will be the 100th anniversary of the genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Turks. Mills was careful not to use the word “genocide” in his confirmation statement, but noted that he would work toward an acknowledgement by Turkey of “a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts so that both nations can begin to forge a relationship that is peaceful, productive, and prosperous.”

Mills is married to Leigh Carter, a former Foreign Service officer. He speaks French and Russian.

<p>Richard Merrill Mills Jr. (born 1959) is an American diplomat who currently serves as U.S. Chargé d'Affaires for Canada. He previously served as United States Ambassador to Armenia from February 2015 until October 2018.</p>

<p>In November 2018, Mills assumed the position of Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the United States in Ottawa. Following the resignation of Ambassador Kelly Craft in August 2019, he became the acting Ambassador to Canada, with the title of Chargé d'affaires. In January 2020, Mills was nominated to be the next United States Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations under Kelly Craft.</p>

<p>Mills was born in Louisiana and grew up in Michigan. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University, Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law, and an Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National Defense University.</p>

<p>Prior to his Foreign Service career, Mills was an Associate Attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of Duncan, Allen and Mitchell, as well at the Washington, D.C. office of Wickwire, Gavin and Gibbs.</p>

<p>Mills' first tour as a Foreign Service Officer was at the U.S. embassy in Paris in 1988, where he served as a consular officer and staff assistant to Ambassador Walter Curley. He has had assignments in the Executive Secretariat at the Department of State (1996–1998), Dublin (1999–2001), the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York City (2001–2003), Islamabad (2003–2004), Riyadh (2005–2006), London (2006–2009), Baghdad (2009–2010), and Valletta (2010–2012). He then served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in Beirut, from 2012 to 2014.</p>

<p>During his career, Mills has also served in the Office of Legislative Affairs, at the U.S. Consulate in Saint Petersburg, and in the now-defunct Bureau of Soviet Union Affairs.</p>

<p>Mills was a Nominee for the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Year Award in 2012 and has received nine Superior Honor Awards from the Department of State. He speaks fluent French and conversational Russian.</p>

<p>In July 2014, Mills was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, a position in which he served until October 2018.</p>

<p>Mills holds the personal rank of Minister-Counselor in the United States Senior Foreign Service.</p>

<p>Mills is married to Leigh Carter, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer.</p>

<p>Richard Mills, Jr. assumed his position as Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Ottawa in November 2018.</p>

<p>Mr. Mills, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor, most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia from 2015-2018. Previously, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon from 2012-2014, and as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at U.S. Embassy Valetta, Malta from 2010-2012.</p>

<p>Mr. Mills, who joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1988, has also served as the Senior Democracy Advisor at U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Political Counselor at U.S. Embassy London, and as a Political Officer at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, among other assignments.</p>

<p>Immediately prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Mills was an Associate Attorney with the firm of Duncan, Allen and Mitchell in Washington, D.C. (1984-1987).</p>

<p>Mr. Mills earned a B.A. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. in 1981, a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas in 1984, and a M.S. in National Security Policy from the National Defense University, Washington, D.C. in 2005. He was a nominee for the State Department’s Deputy Chief of Mission of the Year Award in 2012 and has received nine Superior Honor Awards from the Department of State during his career. He speaks French and conversational Russian.</p>

<p>Mr. Mills’ spouse, Ms. Leigh Carter, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer, retired from the Service in 2010 after a 25-year diplomatic career.</p>