William Joseph Burns

His bestselling memoir, The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal, was published by Random House in 2019. It was published in conjunction with an archive of nearly 100 declassified diplomatic cables. For The Back Channel, Burns received The Douglas Dillon Book Award for Books of Distinction on the Practice of American Diplomacy (2019).

In 2019, he was made a "Contributing Writer" at The Atlantic magazine.

Burns was appointed the ninth President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on February 4, 2015, where he leads a global network of 140 scholars across 20 countries and six centers.

On April 11, the State Department announced Burns would step down as Deputy Secretary of State in October 2014, after he twice delayed his retirement first at the request of Secretary John Kerry and then at the request of President Obama.

Burns holds four honorary doctoral degrees and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also an honorary Fellow, St. John's College, Oxford (from 2012).

Burns is the recipient of three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and a number of Department of State awards, including three Secretary's Distinguished Service Awards, the Secretary's Career Achievement Award, the Charles E. Cobb, Jr. Ambassadorial Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development (2006), the Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award (2005), and the James Clement Dunn Award (1991). He also received the Department of Defense Award for Distinguished Public Service (2014), the U.S. Intelligence Community Medallion (2014), and the Central Intelligence Agency's Agency Seal Medal (2014).

Burns, together with George Tenet was instrumental in forcing through the short-lived Israeli-Palestinian cease fire agreement of June 2001. He played a leading role in the elimination of Libya's illicit weapons program, and the secret bilateral channel with the Iranians that led to a historic interim agreement between Iran and the P5+1. He also played a major role in efforts to re-set relations with Russia early in the Obama Administration and in the strengthening of the strategic partnership with India.

In 1994, Burns was named to TIME Magazine's lists of "50 Most Promising American Leaders Under Age 40" and "100 Most Promising Global Leaders Under Age 40". He was named Foreign Policy's "Diplomat of the Year" in 2013. He is the recipient of Anti-Defamation League's Distinguished Statesman Award (2014), the Middle East Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award (2014), and the American Academy of Diplomacy's Annenberg Award for Diplomatic Excellence (2015).

His Oxford dissertation was published in 1985 as Economic Aid and American Policy Toward Egypt, 1955–1981.

Ambassador Burns entered the Foreign Service in 1982 and served as Deputy Secretary of State from 2011 until 2014. Previously, he served as Under Secretary for Political Affairs from 2008 until 2011. He was U.S. Ambassador to Russia from 2005 until 2008, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2001 until 2005, and U.S. Ambassador to Jordan from 1998 until 2001. Before these, he was also Executive Secretary of the State Department and Special Assistant to Secretaries Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright; Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow; Acting Director and Principal Deputy Director of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff; and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council.

William Joseph Burns (born April 11, 1956) is President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former United States Deputy Secretary of State (2011-2014). He retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a thirty-three-year diplomatic career. Burns previously served as Ambassador of the United States to Jordan from 1998 to 2001, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs from 2001 to 2005, Ambassador of the United States to the Russian Federation from 2005 until 2008, and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2008 to 2011, among other senior roles in Washington and abroad. He holds the highest rank in the Foreign Service, career ambassador, and is only the second serving career diplomat in history to become Deputy Secretary of State.