title: Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
text: # Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
  
  The Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs is the head of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs within the United States Department of State that creates and executes policy in international organizations such as the United Nations. The U.S. Department of State created the position of Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs in February 1949, using one of the six Assistant secretary positions originally authorized by Congress in 1944. On August 25, 1954, a Department administrative action changed the incumbent's designation to Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. The current head of the Bureau is Ambassador Michele J. Sison.
  
  ## Assistant Secretaries of State for International Organization Affairs
  
  | Officeholder | Term started | Term ended |
  | - | - | - |
  | Dean Rusk | Feb 9, 1949 | May 26, 1949 |
  | John D. Hickerson | Aug 8, 1949 | Jul 27, 1953 |
  | Robert D. Murphy | Jul 28, 1953 | Nov 30, 1953 |
  | David McK. Key | Dec 18, 1953 | Jul 31, 1955 |
  | Francis O. Wilcox | Sep 6, 1955 | Jan 20, 1961 |
  | Harlan Cleveland | Feb 23, 1961 | Sep 8, 1965 |
  | Joseph John Sisco | Sep 10, 1965 | Feb 9, 1969 |
  | Samuel De Palma | Feb 11, 1969 | Jun 20, 1973 |
  | David H. Popper | Jun 25, 1973 | Jan 2, 1974 |
  | William B. Buffum | Feb 4, 1974 | Dec 18, 1975 |
  | Samuel W. Lewis | Dec 24, 1975 | Apr 13, 1977 |
  | Charles W. Maynes | Apr 14, 1977 | Apr 9, 1980 |
  | Richard Lee McCall, Jr. | Jun 10, 1980 | Jan 21, 1981 |
  | Elliott Abrams | May 13, 1981 | Dec 1, 1981 |
  | Gregory J. Newell | Jun 4, 1982 | Nov 12, 1985 |
  | Alan L. Keyes | Nov 13, 1985 | Nov 17, 1987 |
  | Richard S. Williamson | Feb 18, 1988 | Mar 19, 1989 |
  | John R. Bolton | May 22, 1989 | Jan 19, 1993 |
  | Douglas J. Bennet, Jr. | May 26, 1993 | May 31, 1995 |
  | Princeton N. Lyman | Mar 19, 1997 | Oct 22, 1998 |
  | C. David Welch | Oct 23, 1998 | Nov 19, 2002 |
  | Kim Holmes | Nov 21, 2002 | May 1, 2005 |
  | Kristen Silverberg | Aug 16, 2005 | June 27, 2008 |
  | Brian H. Hook | Oct 3, 2008 | January 20, 2009 |
  | Esther Brimmer | April 6, 2009 | September 5, 2013 |
  | Bathsheba N. Crocker | September 19, 2014 | January 20, 2017 |
  | Tracey Ann Jacobson (acting) | January 20, 2017 | October 2017 |
  | Mary Catherine Phee (acting) | December 12, 2017 | March 28, 2018 |
  | Kevin Moley | March 28, 2018 | November 29, 2019 |
  | Jonathan M. Moore (acting) | November 29, 2019 | March 1, 2020 |
  | Pamela D. Pryor (initially acting, later as Senior Bureau Official) | March 2, 2020 | January 20, 2021 |
  | Erica J. Barks-Ruggles (Senior Bureau Official) | January 20, 2021 | December 21, 2021 |
  | Michele J. Sison | December 21, 2021 | Present |
  