A Conversation with Ambassador Frank Lavin | 02/12/2026

Ambassador Frank Lavin served as Under Secretary for International Trade (2005-2007), acting as lead trade negotiator for China and India and overseeing global commercial policy, export promotion, and trade talks. Previously, he was U.S. Ambassador to Singapore (2001-2005), where he helped negotiate the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. He has held senior finance and management roles in Hong Kong and Singapore with Bank of America and Citibank and earlier served in the Reagan and Bush (41) Administrations, including as White House Political Director. Ambassador Lavin is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Southern California, Hoover Institution Visiting Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations member, Forbes columnist, and author of several books, including his most recent Inside the Reagan White House. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from Georgetown, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and an M.B.A. from Wharton, and served as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserves.