Ambassador Chris Van Hollen, Sr., Former MEI VP and MEJ Editor

Ambassador Van Hollen

I want to note, belatedly, the passing of Ambassador Christopher Van Hollen, Senior on January 30 at the age of 90. Ambassador Van Hollen, who spent most of his career dealing with South Asia, also served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs and as Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and later as a Vice President of the Middle East Institute, and as one of my predecessors as Editor of The Middle East Journal. His son is Representative Chris Van Hollen, Jr. (D-MD),

Born in Baltimore in 1922, the elder Van Hollen served in the Navy during World War II and took a doctorate at Johns Hopkins University. He served in diplomatic posts in India, Pakistan, and Turkey, and was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State during the Bangladesh war of independence. He served as Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives 1972-1976.

After his retirement, Van Hollen served as a Vice President of the Middle Institute in 1988-92. He concurrently served as the fifth Editor of The Middle East Journal in 1991-1992. His 1990 oral history with the Association of Diplomatic Studies and History can be found online.here.