| Richard Mills | |
| Ambassador From: | United States |
| Country: | Nigeria |
| President: | Joe Biden |
| Term Start: | July 25, 2024 |
| Predecessor: | Mary Beth Leonard |
| Office1: | United States Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations |
| President1: | Donald Trump Joe Biden |
| Term Start1: | November 9, 2020 |
| Term End1: | June 21, 2024 |
| Predecessor1: | Jonathan Cohen |
| Alongside1: | Jeffrey Prescott Ned Price |
| Successor1: | Dorothy Shea |
| Office2: | United States Ambassador to the United Nations |
| Status2: | Chargé d'Affaires |
| President2: | Joe Biden |
| Term Start2: | January 20, 2021 |
| Term End2: | February 25, 2021 |
| Predecessor2: | Kelly Craft |
| Successor2: | Linda Thomas-Greenfield |
| Office3: | United States Ambassador to Canada |
| Status3: | Chargé d'Affaires |
| President3: | Donald Trump |
| Term Start3: | August 23, 2019 |
| Term End3: | November 9, 2020 |
| Predecessor3: | Kelly Craft |
| Successor3: | Katherine Brucker (Chargé d'Affaires) |
| Office4: | United States Ambassador to Armenia |
| President4: | Barack Obama Donald Trump |
| Term Start4: | February 15, 2015 |
| Term End4: | October 17, 2018 |
| Predecessor4: | John A. Heffern |
| Successor4: | Lynne M. Tracy |
| Birth Name: | Richard Merrill Mills Jr.[1] |
| Birth Date: | 23 February 1959 |
| Birth Place: | Louisiana, U.S. |
| Education: | Georgetown University (BA) University of Texas, Austin (JD) National Defense University (MS) |
Richard Merrill Mills Jr. (born February 23, 1959)[2] is an American diplomat serving as the United States ambassador to Nigeria since July 2024. He served as the United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations from 2020 to 2024 and, in that capacity, served as the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires and Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations between January 20, 2021, and February 24, 2021, when Linda Thomas-Greenfield became ambassador.
He previously served as the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires for Canada.[3]
Mills was born in Louisiana, and grew up in Michigan. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown University, a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law, and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National Defense University.
Prior to his Foreign Service career, Mills was an associate attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of Duncan, Allen and Mitchell, and then at the Washington, D.C. office of Wickwire, Gavin and Gibbs.
Mills's 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.[4] 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).[5] [4] He then served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in Beirut, from 2012 to 2014.[5] [4] 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.[5] [4] In July 2014, Mills was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the United States Ambassador to Armenia, a position in which he served until October 2018.[6] [7]
Mills holds the personal rank of Minister-Counselor in the United States Senior Foreign Service. He 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.[5]
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 United States Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft in August 2019 upon her nomination to be US Ambassador to the UN, 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, again serving under now United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. He was confirmed by the Senate on August 6, 2020.[8] He arrived on November 8, 2020.[9]
On July 11, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Mills to be the next United States ambassador to Nigeria.[10] On July 28, 2022, his nomination was sent to the Senate.[11] His nomination was not acted upon for the rest of the year and was returned to Biden on January 3, 2023.[12]
President Biden renominated Mills the same day and a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 1, 2023.[13] The committee favorably reported his nomination on July 13, 2023 and the Senate confirmed his nomination on May 2, 2024 by voice vote.[13] He arrived in Nigeria on June 22, 2024.[14] He presented his credentials to President of Nigeria on July 25, 2024.[15]
Mills is married to Leigh Gabrielle Carter, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer.[5] They were married on October 18, 1991, in Arlington, Virginia.[16]
|-|-|-|-