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Nicholas Burns served for more than three decades in the United States government under six Presidents and nine Secretaries of State of both parties. From 2021 to 2025 he was U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, where he led the U.S. Mission to China, including the embassy in Beijing and consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and Shenyang. During his tenure he helped stabilize relations with China while managing competition across military, economic, technology, trade, and human rights issues.

While serving as a career Foreign Service Officer, he was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (2005–2008), where he led negotiations on the U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Deal, a long-term military assistance agreement with Israel, and on Iran’s nuclear program.
As Ambassador to NATO (2001-2005), he led US efforts in Brussels on 9/11 when the Alliance invoked Article 5 of the NATO Treaty in defense of the United States for the first time in history. During his tenure NATO also expanded to include seven new members from Eastern Europe and launched military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Earlier in his career he served as US Ambassador to Greece, State Department Spokesperson, and a member of the National Security Council staff at the White House, where he worked on Russia, Ukraine, and Soviet affairs for Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Burns has also held diplomatic postings in Jerusalem, Egypt, and Mauritania.

Burns has received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award, the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, and numerous other honors.

Burns taught for thirteen years at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government from 2008 until his confirmation as ambassador to China in 2021, and returned in 2025 as the Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics.