Director General of the United States Foreign Service
Seal of the U.S. Department of State
Incumbent Marcia Bernicat since June 6, 2022
United States Department of State
Reports to	Secretary of State Under Secretary of State for Management
Seat	Harry S Truman Building, Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The President with the advice and consent of the Senate
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	22 U.S.C. § 3928 (Foreign Service Act of 1980)
Inaugural holder	Selden Chapin
Formation	1946
Website	www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-management/bureau-of-global-talent-management/

The Director General of the Foreign Service is the designated manager of the United States Foreign Service.

The Director General is a current or former Foreign Service Officer, appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate.^[1] Since November 23, 1975, under a Departmental administrative action, the Director General has concurrently held the title of Director of the Bureau of Global Talent Management.^[2] As the head of the human resources bureau, the Director General holds a rank equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State and reports to the Under Secretary of State for Management.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The current Director General is Marcia Bernicat.

History

Congress created the position of Director General of the Foreign Service through the Foreign Service Act of 1946. Between 1946 and 1980, the Secretary of State designated the Director General.^[2]

The Foreign Service Act of 1980 made the position a Presidential appointee.^[2]

After 1986, the Director General became responsible for all personnel aspects of the Foreign Service and the Civil Service at the State Department, including advertising, examination, appointment, job assignments worldwide, disciplinary actions, and promotions to the Senior Foreign Service.^[5]

List of directors general of the Foreign Service

Director General	Tenure	President
Selden Chapin	November 13, 1946 – April 30, 1947	Harry S. Truman
Christian M. Ravndal	May 1, 1947 – June 23, 1949
Richard Porter Butrick	September 7, 1949 – April 1, 1952
Gerald Augustin Drew	March 30, 1952 – October 18, 1954	Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower
Raymond A. Hare	October 19, 1954 – August 29, 1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Joseph Charles Satterthwaite	May 6, 1957 – September 1, 1958
Waldemar John Gallman	November 17, 1958 – January 31, 1961
Tyler Thompson	May 14, 1961 – February 15, 1964	John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson
Joseph Palmer II	February 16, 1964 – April 10, 1966	Lyndon B. Johnson
John Milton Steeves	August 1, 1966 – July 31, 1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
John Howard Burns	August 1, 1969 – June 15, 1971	Richard Nixon
William O. Hall	July 5, 1971 – September 30, 1973	Richard Nixon
Nathaniel Davis	November 13, 1973 – March 17, 1975	Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford
Carol Laise	April 11, 1975 – December 26, 1977	Gerald Ford
Harry G. Barnes, Jr.	December 22, 1977 – February 8, 1981	Jimmy Carter
Joan Margaret Clark	July 27, 1981 – October 24, 1983	Ronald Reagan
Alfred Atherton	December 2, 1983 – December 28, 1984
George Southall Vest	June 8, 1985 – May 3, 1989
Edward Joseph Perkins	September 22, 1989 – May 7, 1992	George H. W. Bush
Genta Hawkins Holmes	September 7, 1992 – August 18, 1995	George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton
Anthony Cecil Eden Quainton	December 29, 1995 – August 22, 1997	Bill Clinton
Edward William Gnehm	August 25, 1997 – June 14, 2000
Marc Isaiah Grossman	June 19, 2000 – March 26, 2001
Ruth A. Davis	June 15, 2001 – June 30, 2003	George W. Bush
W. Robert Pearson	October 7, 2003 – February 27, 2006
George McDade Staples	May 25, 2006 – June 27, 2007
Harry K. Thomas, Jr.	September 21, 2007 – June 24, 2009	George W. Bush, Barack Obama
Nancy Jo Powell	August 3, 2009 – January 6, 2012^[6]	Barack Obama
Linda Thomas-Greenfield	April 2, 2012 – August 2, 2013	Barack Obama
Arnold A. Chacón	December 22, 2014 – June 2, 2017	Barack Obama, Donald Trump
William E. Todd (Acting)	June 12, 2017 - February 1, 2019	Donald Trump
Carol Z. Perez	February 1, 2019 – June 6, 2022	Donald Trump, Joe Biden
Marcia Bernicat	June 6, 2022 - present	Joe Biden

References

^ "22 U.S. Code § 3928 - Director General of Foreign Service". Cornell Law School. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Directors General of the Foreign Service". U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. December 22, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
^ "Assistant Secretaries and Equivalent Rank". U.S. Department of State. January 20, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
^ "Department Organization Chart". U.S. Department of State. March 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
^ "Up or Out — The Challenges of the State Department Personnel System". Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
^ "Nancy Jo Powell - People - Department History - Office of the Historian".

v t e United States Assistant Secretaries of State (and equivalent ranks)
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs	African Affairs East Asian and Pacific Affairs European and Eurasian Affairs International Organization Affairs Near Eastern Affairs South and Central Asian Affairs Western Hemisphere Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment	Economic and Business Affairs Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Energy Resources Chief Economist of the Department
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security	Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance International Security and Nonproliferation Political-Military Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs	Educational and Cultural Affairs Global Public Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Management	Administration Consular Affairs Diplomatic Security Chief Information Officer of the Department Chief Medical Officer and Designated Agency Safety and Health Official Comptroller of the Department and Director of Global Financial Services Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent Director of Budget and Planning Director of Overseas Buildings Operations Director, Foreign Service Institute Director, Office of Foreign Missions, with the rank of Ambassador Director, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights	Conflict and Stabilization Operations Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Population, Refugees, and Migration Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking (Ambassador-at-Large) Global Criminal Justice (Ambassador-at-Large)
Reporting directly to the Secretary	Intelligence and Research Legislative Affairs Special Assistant to the Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Department Inspector General Legal Adviser Director, Policy Planning Staff Director, Office of Foreign Assistance Director, Office of Civil Rights and Chief Diversity Officer Chief of Protocol of the United States, with the rank of Ambassador Global Women's Issues (Ambassador-at-Large) Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally (Ambassador-at-Large)