A native of Pennsylvania, McMullen earned a PhD in history from Georgetown University in 1980. He also is a distinguished graduate of the National War College.

 

Prior to entering the Foreign Service, he taught Latin American history at Georgetown and George Mason University. He also worked as a foreign affairs fellow in the office of Senator John Glenn (D-Ohio) and was a senior analyst for the Department of Defense.

 

As a Foreign Service officer, his overseas assignments have taken him to Nicaragua, Malaysia, El Salvador, Tanzania and Colombia.

 

He has served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Panama (2003-2005), and as consul general in São Paulo, Brazil (2005-2007).

 

At the time of his nomination, he was serving as deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

 

McMullen’s wife, Laurel, teaches swimming to special needs children and adults. In 2008, the McMullens were co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the governments of Sudan and Iran regarding responsibility for the 1998 terrorist bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

 

Official Biography (State Department)