Born on October 15, 1937, in Lakewood, Ohio, Michael H. Armacost is a career U.S. diplomat with extensive experience in Asia-Pacific affairs. He earned an A.B. from Williams College in 1959 and an M.A. in international affairs from Columbia University's School of International Affairs in 1961, before joining the Foreign Service in 1962. Early assignments included political officer in Vientiane (1964-1966), Saigon (1967-1969), and deputy chief of mission in Tokyo (1977-1980), building expertise in East Asian diplomacy. Armacost served as U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines (1982-1984) and as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs during the Reagan administration (1984-1989), the third-ranking position in the State Department. He later served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan (1989-1993). Post-government, he was the inaugural dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University (1995-1999), president of The Asia Foundation (2001-2007), and Shorenstein Distinguished Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Armacost has authored works on U.S. relations with Japan and China, contributing to policy discourse on security and alliances.