Peter Burleigh

Albert Peter Burleigh (born March 7, 1942) is an American diplomat who worked as a Foreign Service Officer and joined the American Academy of Diplomacy.

Peter Burleigh
Official portrait, 2009
United States Ambassador to India
Acting
In office July 1, 2011 – April 24, 2012
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Tim Roemer
Succeeded by	Nancy Jo Powell
In office January 15, 2009 – August 11, 2009
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	David Mulford
Succeeded by	Tim Roemer
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Acting
In office August 18, 1998 – September 7, 1999
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Bill Richardson
Succeeded by	Richard Holbrooke
United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives
In office January 19, 1996 – August 1, 1997
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Teresita Schaffer
Succeeded by	Shaun Donnelly
8th Coordinator for Counterterrorism
In office November 22, 1991 – November 23, 1992
President	George H. W. Bush
Preceded by	Morris D. Busby
Succeeded by	Philip C. Wilcox Jr.
Personal details
Born	(1942-03-07) March 7, 1942 (age 83) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Colgate University (BA)

Early life and education

Burleigh was born on March 7, 1942, in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Hollywood High School and then Colgate University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1963.^[1]

Career

Burleigh was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal from 1963 to 1965, during which time he mastered the Nepali language.^[2] In addition to Nepali, he speaks Bengali, Hindi, and Sinhalese.^[3]

He served as U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka from 1995 to 1997, serving concurrently as ambassador to the Maldives.^[4] In 1998–99, he was chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. In 1999, President Clinton nominated Burleigh for the post of ambassador to the Philippines and Palau, but the U.S. Senate never acted upon the nomination, and it was eventually withdrawn.^[4] In 2009 and again in 2011, he was appointed chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, pending appointments first of Timothy Roemer and of Nancy Jo Powell as ambassador.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

He is a visiting professor of international affairs at the University of Miami.