Robert S. Gilchrist served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor. He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor. His last position was United States Ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania 2020-2023.

Prior to being ambassador, Mr. Gilchrist served as Director of the Department of State’s Operations Center, Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Sweden, Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Estonia, and the Director of Nordic and Baltic Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Among his earlier assignments, Mr. Gilchrist was Deputy Political Counselor at the United States Embassy in Iraq, Chief of the Political Section of the United States Embassy in Romania, and a Special Assistant in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of State.

Mr. Gilchrist earned a Bachelor of Arts from Wake Forest University and holds a Master of Arts from the University of Virginia. He speaks Spanish and French and has working knowledge of Romanian and Estonian.