Paul E. Simons was confirmed as US Ambassador to Chile on October 26, 2007. Simons received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University and his MBA in finance from New York University Stern School of Business in 1982.  He speaks Spanish and French. 

 

Before joining the State Department, Simons served as assistant vice president for international corporate lending at a New York-based commercial bank. 

 

Early in his government career, Simons served as lead economist on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, as an international economist in the Treasury Department, and at US Embassies in Malawi and Colombia.

 

From 1992 through 1996, Simons served as economic counselor at the US Embassy in Quito, Ecuador. He served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Israel; as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs; and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy, Sanctions, and Commodities. On February 7, 2003, Simons was one of three State Department officials who submitted a memo, still partially classified, warning of gaps in Bush administration plans for Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

 

Simons is married to Victoria Cárdenas-Simons, a World Bank official. 

 

Prewar Memo Warned of Gaps in Iraq Plans (by Bradley Graham, Washington Post)