John Victor Roos (born February 14, 1955) is the United States Ambassador to Japan. Before accepting the ambassadorship from President Barack Obama, Roos was the CEO of Silicon Valley-based law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
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Roos was hired by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in 1985, having previously worked for O’Melveny & Myers in the early 1980s. In 2000 he was promoted to managing director of professional services. Roos was named as the new CEO of the law firm in February 2005. During his tenure as CEO Roos reportedly fundraised over $500,000 for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[1]
In May 2009 Obama named Roos as his choice to replace the departing Tom Schieffer as United States Ambassador to Japan. This led to some criticism in Japan because of Roos' lack of diplomatic experience and any obvious connection to Japan. After hosting Roos at the White House and appearing before reporters with him, Obama said that he chose Roos because "after careful consideration I made the determination that the person who I thought could best do this is somebody with superb judgment, somebody with an outstanding intellect, somebody who is a very close friend of mine and a close adviser," referring to Roos. Roos said that Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was "intimately involved" with several topics of interest to Japan, including software growth, the rise of the Internet and the emergence of biotechnology, clean technology and renewable energy. Roos also said that the close bilateral relationship between the two countries would remain unchanged regardless of who won the August 30, 2009, Japanese general elections[1][2]
On August 7, 2009, the U.S. Senate confirmed Roos by unanimous consent.[3] On August 16, 2009, Roos was formally sworn in as the new ambassador. Three days later he and his family arrived in Japan and on August 20 he presented his credentials to Emperor Akihito.[4]
On August 6, 2010, Roos attended the peace memorial ceremony in Hiroshima, the first US Ambassador to Japan to do so.[5]
Roos grew up in San Francisco and graduated from Lowell High School, before he went on to college at nearby Stanford University and Stanford Law School. Roos is married to his wife Susan, and has two children, David and Lauren.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tom Schieffer |
U.S. Ambassador to Japan 2009 – present |
Succeeded by incumbent |