Nomination of Thomas Michael Tolliver Niles To Be United States Ambassador to Canada

The President today announced his intention to nominate Thomas Michael Tolliver Niles, of the District of Columbia, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, as Ambassador of the United States of America to Canada. He would succeed Paul Heron Robinson, Jr.

Mr. Niles entered on duty in the Department of State in 1962. He served at the American Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1963-1965. In 1965 he became an economic officer in Soviet affairs in the Department, and from there took Russian language training. In 1968 he went to Moscow as an economic officer, where he served until 1971 when he was assigned as a political officer at the U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium. He returned to Moscow in 1973 as director for commercial affairs, where he served until 1976 when he became a student at the National War College. In 1977-1979 Mr. Niles served in the United Nations Office in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs. He then became Director of Central European Affairs in the Department until 1981, when he was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs.

Mr. Niles was born September 22, 1939, in Lexington, KY. He received his B.A. in 1960 from Harvard University and his M.A. in 1962 from the University of Kentucky. His foreign languages are Serbo-Croatian, German, Russian, and French. He is married to the former Carroll Ehringhaus, and they have two children.