Japan's 3-11 Triple Tragedy: A 10th Anniversary Commemoration

Description

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan. The Reischauer Center commemorates the victims of the disaster and those still impacted by its effects. In remembrance of the Triple Disaster, Ambassador Rust Deming will speak about his experiences and work as he served as the senior advisor to the assistant secretary for East Asian affairs for the State Department from March to September 2011, in which capacity he helped coordinate the U.S. government response to the 3/11 disaster.

Ambassador Rust M. Deming retired from the Department of State in 2004, following a 38-year career. In 2010, he was asked to return to the State Department as senior advisor to the assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Deming served as American ambassador to Tunisia from January 2001 until September 2003. Prior to that, he served principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs (June 1998 to August 2000). Ambassador Deming spent much of his career dealing with Japanese affairs, having served in Japan as charge d'affaires, ad interim, from December 1996 to September 1997 and as deputy chief of mission under Ambassador Walter Mondale from October 1993 to December 1996. He completed his B.A. in 1964 at Rollins College and received his M.A. in East Asian studies from Stanford University in 1981. He is also a 1986 graduate of the National War College. His foreign languages are Japanese and French.

Throughout his career, Ambassador Deming has received numerous Senior Performance Awards and Superior Honor Awards. In 1997, he received the Department of Defense's Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service, and in 2003 he was awarded the Secretary of State's Career Achievement Award. In 2014, he received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays and Neck Ribbon from the government of Japan. He is chairman emeritus of the Japan America Society of Washington, D.C., and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Foreign Service Association, and the Stanford University Alumni Association.