Originally from Belmont, Massachusetts, Anthony Baird has been a U.S. Foreign Service Officer for over two decades. His career spans Eastern and Central Europe as well as the Near East. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for Central Europe, overseeing ten countries from Switzerland to Bulgaria.
From 2019 to 2022, Baird was the U.S. Counselor for Syrian Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the UN in Geneva. In this role, he led multilateral negotiations on humanitarian access and coordinated political negotiations.
Baird's experience includes roles as Political Chief in U.S. Embassies in Morocco and Azerbaijan and as a political officer in Georgia and Albania. He has also worked within the State Department’s Office for NATO Affairs and served on the White House National Security Council as director for Western Europe and NATO.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in Russian Studies from European University in Saint Petersburg. Additionally, he taught courses at Tuft University’s Fletcher School for Law and Diplomacy during 2018-2019.
Fluent in French and Russian, Baird is conversant in Arabic and Moroccan Darija, with knowledge of Azerbaijani, Albanian, and Georgian languages. He is married with five children, expecting his first grandchild with his wife Heidi in October 2025.