Richard M. Mills Jr.
Official portrait, 2024
United States Ambassador toNigeria
Incumbent
Assumed office July 25, 2024
President	Joe Biden Donald Trump
Preceded by	Mary Beth Leonard
United States Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations
In office November 9, 2020 – June 21, 2024
President	Donald Trump Joe Biden
Preceded by	Jonathan Cohen
Succeeded by	Dorothy Shea
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Chargé d'Affaires
In office January 20, 2021 – February 25, 2021
President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Kelly Craft
Succeeded by	Linda Thomas-Greenfield
United States Ambassador to Canada
Chargé d'Affaires
In office August 23, 2019 – November 9, 2020
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Kelly Craft
Succeeded by	Katherine Brucker (Chargé d'Affaires)
8thUnited States Ambassador to Armenia
In office February 15, 2015 – October 17, 2018
President	Barack Obama Donald Trump
Preceded by	John A. Heffern
Succeeded by	Lynne M. Tracy
Personal details
Born	Richard Merrill Mills Jr.[1] (1959-02-23)February 23, 1959 (age 66)[2] Louisiana, U.S.
Education	Georgetown University (BA) University of Texas, Austin (JD) National Defense University (MS)

Richard Merrill Mills Jr. (born February 23, 1959)^[3] is an American diplomat serving as theUnited States ambassador to Nigeria since July 2024. He served as theUnited States deputy ambassador to the United Nations from 2020 to 2024 and, in that capacity, served as the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires and Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations between January 20, 2021, and February 25, 2021, whenLinda Thomas-Greenfield became ambassador. He previously served as theU.S. Chargé d'Affaires for Canada.^[4]

Mills was born inLouisiana, and grew up inMichigan. He received a Bachelor of Arts fromGeorgetown University, aJuris Doctor from theUniversity of Texas School of Law, and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from theNational Defense University.

Prior to hisForeign Service career, Mills was an associate attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of Duncan, Allen and Mitchell, and then at the Washington, D.C. office of Wickwire, Gavin and Gibbs.

Mills's first tour as aForeign Service Officer was at theU.S. embassy in Paris in 1988, where he served as a consular officer and staff assistant to AmbassadorWalter Curley.^[5] He has had assignments in theExecutive Secretariat at theDepartment of State (1996–1998),Dublin (1999–2001), theUnited States Mission to the United Nations in New York City (2001–2003),Islamabad (2003–2004),Riyadh (2005–2006), London (2006–2009),Baghdad (2009–2010), andValletta (2010–2012).^[6][5] He then served asDeputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy inBeirut, from 2012 to 2014.^[6][5] During his career, Mills has also served in the Office of Legislative Affairs, at the U.S. Consulate inSaint Petersburg, and in the now-defunct Bureau of Soviet Union Affairs.^[6][5] In July 2014, Mills was nominated byPresidentBarack Obama to be the United States Ambassador toArmenia, a position in which he served until October 2018.^[7][8]

Mills holds the personal rank ofMinister-Counselor in the United StatesSenior Foreign Service. He was a nominee for the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Year Award in 2012, and has received nineSuperior Honor Awards from the Department of State. He speaks fluent French and conversational Russian.^[6]

In November 2018, Mills assumed the position ofDeputy Chief of Mission at theEmbassy of the United States in Ottawa. Following the resignation ofUnited States Ambassador to CanadaKelly Craft in August 2019 upon her nomination to be US Ambassador to the UN, he became the acting Ambassador to Canada, with the title ofChargé d'affaires.

In January 2020, Mills was nominated to be the nextUnited States Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, again serving under nowUnited States Ambassador to the United NationsLinda Thomas-Greenfield. He was confirmed by the Senate on August 6, 2020.^[9] He arrived on November 8, 2020.^[10]

On July 11, 2022, PresidentJoe Biden announced his intent to nominate Mills to be the nextUnited States ambassador to Nigeria.^[11] On July 28, 2022, his nomination was sent to theSenate.^[12] His nomination was not acted upon for the rest of the year and was returned to Biden on January 3, 2023.^[13]

President Biden renominated Mills the same day and a hearing on his nomination was held before theSenate Foreign Relations Committee on March 1, 2023.^[14] The committee favorably reported his nomination on July 13, 2023 and the Senate confirmed his nomination on May 2, 2024 by voice vote.^[14] He arrived in Nigeria on June 22, 2024.^[15] He presented his credentials to President of Nigeria on July 25, 2024.^[16]

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• Consular Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France (1988–1990)
• Desk Officer in the Bureau of Soviet Union Affairs, Washington D.C. (1990–1993)
• Political Officer at the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia (1993–1995)
• Legislative Affairs Officer at the Office of Legislative Affairs, Washington D.C. (1995–1996)
• Line Director in the Executive Secretariat at the Department of State, Washington D.C. (1996–1998)
• Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland (1999–2001)
• Political Officer at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, New York (2001–2003)
• Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan (2003–2004)
• Energy Attaché and Acting Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2005–2006)
• Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in London, United Kingdom (2006–2009)
• Senior Democracy Advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq (2009–2010)
• Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Valletta, Malta (2010–2012)
• Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon (2012–2014)
• Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia (2015–2018)
• Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada (2018–2020)
• Deputy Representative, with rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York, and Deputy Representative to the U.N. Security Council (2020–2021)

Mills is married to Leigh Gabrielle Carter, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer.^[6] They were married on October 18, 1991, inArlington, Virginia.^[2]

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