Robert D. McCallum, Jr. became the U.S. Ambassador to Australia when he presented his credentials on August 23, 2006. McCallum attended Yale University on a National Merit Scholarship and received a bachelor’s degree in History, cum laude, in 1968. While at Yale, McCallum played both varsity tennis and varsity basketball and was a friend of George W. Bush. McCallum and Bush were both members of the Skull and Bones secret society. In 1971 McCallum received a B.A. in jurisprudence from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Two years later he added a J.D. from Yale Law School while on an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship. Later that year he began practicing law with the Atlanta, Georgia, firm of Alston & Bird, for whom he worked for 28 years. McCallum specialized in trial and appellate practice, including representing the R.J. Reynolds tobacco company.   He was appointed by the Attorney General of Georgia as a Special Assistant Attorney General. McCallum went to work for the U.S. Justice Department as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division in 2001. In 2003 he became the U.S. Associate Attorney General. Throughout his career, McCallum has published many legal articles and lectured on a variety of legal topics.