Directors of the U.S. Information Agency
NOTE TO READERS
Updates to the Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission database are currently suspended. For information about the Department’s current and recent leadership, we recommend visiting the Department of State homepage’s Biographies of Senior Officials and List of U.S. Ambassadors.
Notice posted on January 12, 2024.
Last
updated March 14, 2024.
Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1953 (67 Stat. 642) established the U.S. Information Agency to disseminate abroad information about the United States, its people, culture, and policies as authorized by the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 as amended (62 Stat. 6). Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1977 (91 Stat. 1636) abolished the USIA and established a new International Communication Agency, effective Apr 1, 1978. The ICA reverted to its earlier title under P.L. 97-241 of Aug 24, 1982 (96 Stat. 291). The U.S. Information Agency, which is known overseas as the U.S. Information Service, is responsible for the U.S. Government’s overseas information and cultural programs, including the Voice of America. All Directors of the U.S. Information Agency and the International Communication Agency have been appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
- Theodore Cuyler Streibert (1953–1956)
- Arthur Larson (1956–1957)
- George Venable Allen (1957–1960)
- Edward R. Murrow (1961–1964)
- Carl Thomas Rowan (1964–1965)
- Leonard Harold Marks (1965–1968)
- Frank J. Shakespeare Jr. (1969–1973)
- James Keogh (1973–1976)
- John Edward Reinhardt (1977–1978)
- John Edward Reinhardt (1978–1980)
- Charles Z. Wick (1981–1989)
- Bruce S. Gelb (1989–1991)
- Henry Edward Catto Jr. (1991–1993)
- Joseph Daniel Duffey (1993–1999)