Ambassador Eliot served for 30 years in the United States Foreign Service, his overseas assignments including Sri Lanka, Germany, the Soviet Union, Iran and, from 1973 to 1978, Ambassador to Afghanistan. His Washington assignments included Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, Executive Secretary of the Department of State, and Inspector General of the Department of State. He retired in 1978 with the rank of Career Minister. From 1978 to 1985 he was Dean and Professor of Diplomacy of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and is now emeritus in both positions. From 1985 to 1987 he was Director of the center for Asian-Pacific Affairs of the Asia Foundation.

Ambassador Eliot is a Director of Fiberstars Inc and Neurobiological Technologies Inc, a Trustee (and former Chair of the Executive Committee) of the Asia Foundation, a member of the Advisory Board of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, a member (and former Chair) of the Advisory Committee of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, a board member of the Planning and Conservation League of California, and a founding member of the American Academy of Diplomacy. He was on the board of Community Foundation Sonoma County for nine years and is now on the board of its affiliate, the Sonoma Valley Fund.

He is a past Board member and Chair of the Board of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory; past President of the Boston and past Vice Chair of the San Francisco World Affairs Councils; past trustee of the World Peace Foundation; retired Director of the Raytheon Company; former Trustee of the World Peace Foundation; and former Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He has an Honorary LLD from the University of Nebraska. The State Department awarded him its Replogle Management award and Director General’s Cup. Tufts University awarded him its Presidential Medal.

He has a B.A. and an M.P.A. from Harvard University. He and his wife, Patricia, resided in Sonoma, California. They have four married children and nine grandchildren. Ambassador Eliot passed away on August 8, 2019.