Robert D. McCallum, Jr.

Ambassador

Biography

Robert D. McCallum, Jr. presented his credentials as the Ambassador of the United States of America to Australia on August 23, 2006. Ambassador McCallum previously was the Associate Attorney General, the third ranking official at the United States Department of Justice, from July 1, 2003. He had earlier served from September, 2001, as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, the Department’s largest litigating component.

Before entering government, Ambassador McCallum was a partner with the Atlanta, Georgia, law firm of Alston & Bird, specializing in trial and appellate practice. During his twenty-eight years with that firm, he was appointed by the Attorney General of the State of Georgia as a Special Assistant Attorney General, and he was the recipient of the Atlanta Bar Association Leadership Award in 2001. Ambassador McCallum has authored numerous legal articles and publications and also served as a lecturer on a variety of legal topics.

Over his career, Ambassador McCallum has been active in numerous civic organizations, including service as a Director of the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina; President of the Yale Club of Georgia; State and District Secretary for the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committees; Georgia Representative of the Yale Law School Alumni/ae Association; and as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Choate Rosemary Hall School in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Ambassador McCallum was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1946. He attended Yale University as an undergraduate on a National Merit Scholarship, receiving his B.A., cum laude, in History in 1968. After graduation, he attended Christ Church at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, earning a B.A. in Jurisprudence with First Class Honors in 1971. He obtained his J.D. from Yale Law School on an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in 1973 and entered the practice of law that same year.

An avid sportsman in his youth, Ambassador McCallum was captain of the Yale tennis team, the point guard on the Yale basketball team, and a member of the University sides in both at Oxford. He continues a keen interest in sports of all sorts but now only as a spectator.

Ambassador McCallum married Mary (“Mimi”) Rankin Weems McCallum in 1969. In addition to spectator sports, their interests include hiking, fishing, the visual arts, architecture, and the theater. They have two adult sons.

U.S. Ambassador

The American Ambassador to Australia is the personal representative of the President of the United States. He is accredited to the Queen in her capacity as Sovereign of Australia and resides at the seat of Government of the Commonwealth of Australia.

The Chief of Mission, assisted by members of the Embassy staff, conducts the official business of the Government of the United States of America in Australia. The Chief of Mission also endeavors to make United States policies better known and understood in Australia. This includes the negotiation of treaties and agreements, the exchange of information on problems of mutual interest to the two countries, and to enable officials and citizens of the United States to understand the attitudes and interests of Australians. The Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C., performs similar tasks on behalf of the Government of the Commonwealth.

Last update: Friday, 26 September 2008 GMT+1000