Trustee Emeritus, Board of Trustees

Former U.S. Ambassador
Executive Secretary and Inspector General of the State Department
Dean Emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University



Theodore L. Eliot, Jr. was a Trustee Emeritus of The Asia Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Eliot first joined the Board of The Asia Foundation in 1990. He was a retired Foreign Service Officer who served in Sri Lanka, Germany, the Soviet Union, and Iran, and in 1973-1978, as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. His Washington assignments included executive secretary (1969-1973) and inspector general (1978) of the Department of State. In 1978 he retired from the Foreign Service after 30 years to become dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. In 1985-1987, he was director of The Asia Foundation’s Center for Asian-Pacific Affairs. Ambassador Eliot has been a director of a number of corporations, including the Raytheon Company, and a board member of many non-profits in the international and environmental arenas. He previously served on The Asia Foundation’s board from 1990-2002, including as vice chairman and chairman of the Executive Committee. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard.