Thai American Business Program Conference
US and Thailand:  Business at the Crossroads
Marriott Inn and Conference Center    March 2-3, 2009 

Keynote Speaker: Ambassador William H. Itoh
Director of Washington International Programs,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Ambassador William H. Itoh is Director of Washington International Programs for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Global Education at UNC and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kenan Institute Asia in Bangkok. Ambassador Itoh is also a Senior Advisor to McLarty Associates.

Ambassador Itoh had a distinguished career in public service with the Department of State. From 1995-1999 he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand. Prior to his appointment to Bangkok, he was Executive Secretary of the National Security Council at the White House (1993‑1995).

During his career as a Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Itoh held a number of positions in the Department of State and abroad. His overseas tours included an assignment in the U.S. Embassy in London (1976‑1978) and as the U.S. Consul General to Western Australia in Perth (1986‑1990). His Washington assignments included service in the Office of the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Bureau of Congressional Relations. He was Deputy Executive Secretary and Acting Executive Secretary of the Department of State from 1991‑1993. He also served as Executive Secretary of the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel and as Acting Deputy Inspector General of the Department of State.

Ambassador Itoh is a graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Social Science and an M.A. in History/Anthropology (1971). He was Assistant Professor of History at California State University, Humboldt (1972‑1973). Ambassador Itoh was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force reserve in 1967 and served on active duty 1968‑1969. As a State Department student, he attended the National Defense University, Fort McNair, and was a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College class of 1991. He also attended the Capstone General and Flag Officers Course at NDU in 1995.

As Ambassador to Thailand, Ambassador Itoh was the 1998 recipient of the Department of State's Charles S. Cobb Award for outstanding support of the American business community. He was also awarded an honorary PHD in Economics by Khon Kaen University, presented by His Majesty the King in December 1998, in recognition of his efforts in support of Thailand's recovery during the Asian financial crisis. He is currently co-chair of TRAI (Tsunami Recovery Action Initiative) managed by the Kenan Institute Asia in Bangkok.

Ambassador Itoh was born in Tokyo, Japan on May 30, 1943, and attended secondary schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is married to the former Melinda White, a professional educator. They have two daughters, Charlotte, a lawyer in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Caroline, a program manager for Blackbaud Europe in the United Kingdom.

Plenary Session Speaker: Murray Hiebert
Senior Director for Asia, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Murray Hiebert is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s senior director for Asia. In this position, he works to promote and develop opportunities for U.S. trade with and investment in Asia. Hiebert also heads up the Chamber’s Southeast Asia team.  

Hiebert came to the Chamber in 2006 from the Wall Street Journal's China bureau where he covered trade, intellectual property rights, and China's accession to the World Trade Organization. Prior to his posting to Beijing, Hiebert worked for the Wall Street Journal Asia and the Far Eastern Economic Review in Washington, reporting on U.S.-Asia relations.  

From 1995-99, he was based in Kuala Lumpur for Far Eastern Economic Review. He covered the Asian financial crisis and also reported on developments in Singapore.  In the early 1990s, Hiebert was based in Hanoi for the Review, reporting on Vietnam's economic reforms. He wrote two books on Vietnam, Chasing the Tigers and Vietnam Notebook.  

Hiebert joined the Review's Bangkok bureau in 1986, covering political and economic developments in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.