During his 33-year diplomatic career, Ret. Ambassador Niels Marquardt served as America’s top diplomat in Madagascar, Cameroon, the Comoros, and Equatorial Guinea with additional service in Germany, France, Thailand, and the Republic of the Congo. His final State Department assignment was as U.S. Consul General in Sydney, Australia, where he remained and served another four years in the private sector as CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia. He also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire and Rwanda.
After graduating from Lewis & Clark with a bachelor’s degree in German Studies, Niels earned his master’s degree in global management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and his master’s in international security strategy from the National War College. In 2017, Lewis & Clark honored Marquardt with the Distinguished Alumnus award.