A career diplomat who has received extensive recognition from the U.S. Department of State, Ambassador Timothy L. Towell has spent the majority of his career working in Latin America and Europe. Ambassador Towell received a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University (1957) and an M.A. in European History from Case Western Reserve University (1962). After college, Tim Towell worked on Wall Street for the First National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) before returning to his native Ohio and beginning his public service career as an Aide to then-Ohio Governor C. William “Billy” O’Neill, formerly the youngest Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. Governor O’Neil lost the key election of 1958, and Timothy Towell went on six months active duty with the U.S. Army Reserves.

After four years of teaching and administration at Ohio’s Hawken School and Massachusetts’ Groton School, Timothy L. Towell joined the U.S. Department of State in 1963, during the administration of John F. Kennedy. Tim Towell’s first overseas post was as U.S. Vice Consul in Valencia, Spain (1963-1965), and then Special Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador in Madrid (1965-1966). In 1967, Timothy L. Towell was assigned to temporary duty at the American Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay. Later that year, Towell transitioned to a position as the U.S. Consul in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and was subsequently detailed to the Agency for International Development (A.I.D.) in the Embassy at La Paz, Bolivia. Timothy Towell returned to the Department of State in Washington in 1968, where he utilized his expertise serving as first the Bolivian Desk Officer (1968-1970) and then the Spanish Desk Officer (1970-1972).

Ambassador Towell was again sent abroad in 1972, becoming the U.S. Consul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and then returning to Europe as a Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Belgium (1975-1979). After serving for over a year as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba (1979-1980), during the time of the Mariel boat lift from Cuba to Florida, Ambassador Timothy L. Towell returned to the United States to take up the position as the Legislative Management Officer for Europe at the State Department’s Office of Congressional Relations, being responsible for the presentation of U.S. positions on European issues before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

From 1983 to 1988, Ambassador Timothy Towell held the position of Deputy Chief of Protocol of the United States in the Reagan-Bush Administration. In early 1988, Ambassador Tim Towell was tapped to serve as United States Ambassador to Paraguay. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan and reconfirmed in that post by incoming President George H. W. Bush, Ambassador Timothy Towell held that important ambassadorship from 1988-1991. During his time as Ambassador in Paraguay, the 34-year dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner was overthrown and the transmission to democracy there began under the leadership of President Andres Rodriguez. Ambassador Towell returned to Washington in 1991 and became Director of Africa at the United States Peace Corps under the leadership of Director (later U.S. Senator) Paul Coverdell. In 1993, after over 30 years of Government service, Ambassador Timothy L. Towell retired and formed the Foreign Policy Group of which he is President and CEO. A Washington-based international consulting firm, the Foreign Policy Group focuses on - but is not limited to - a variety of international foreign policy issues including counter terrorism, foreign investment and trade, corruption, money laundering, and energy and environment issues.

Ambassador Timothy Towell is U.S. State Department certified proficient in three foreign languages: French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Ambassador Towell is a recipient of the State Department’s Superior Honor Award.