TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced Wednesday (July 28) it had appointed Ed Dunn as its new spokesperson after Sandra Oudkirk assumed the function of director at the Taipei office.

Dunn’s accession followed Oudkirk taking over as director on July 15 and the arrival on July 19 of a new deputy director, Jeremy Cornforth.

The new spokesperson speaks Mandarin Chinese, served as a diplomat in Guangzhou, China, holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Chinese from Emory University, and studied Sino-American relations at the Johns Hopkins-SAIS Hopkins Nanjing Center, AIT said.

During his foreign service career, Dunn also worked in Estonia, Indonesia, and Pakistan, though he also has experience in the private sector, where he worked at a global strategic communications and public affairs consulting firm.