Born in Lubbock, Texas, in 1952, Brownfield is a 1970 graduate of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Austin. He earned his B.A. from Cornell University in 1974 and attended the University of Texas School of Law from 1976 to 1978.

 

Brownfield started a Foreign Service career with a posting to the U.S. Consulate in Maracaibo, Venezuela in 1979. In 1981 be began two years as political officer in El Salvador, during a period of civil war, in which the administration of President Ronald Reagan supported the Salvadoran military dictatorship. Brownfield also served as political officer in Argentina from 1986 to1989, and as Political Advisor to the Commander-In-Chief, U.S. Southern Command in Panama from 1989 to 1990, during which time the U.S. invaded Panama.

 

He worked as Director of Policy and Coordination at the INL from 1993 until 1995. After serving as Executive Assistant in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, he returned to the INL from 1998 to 1999. He then served as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs and, from 1999 to 2001, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. He served as Ambassador to Chile from 2002 to 2004, Ambassador to Venezuela from 2004 to 2007, and Ambassador to Colombia from 2007 to 2010.

 

Brownfield’s wife is Kristie Kenney, the current U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, and former Ambassador to Ecuador and the Philippines.