Building U.S.-Indonesia Mutual Understanding Since 1994

Edward Masters

Edward Masters has held senior posts as a diplomat, businessman and nonprofit sector executive in a career devoted to advancing U.S. national interests abroad and fostering cooperation among diverse economic groups at home. He has lived and worked in Asia for 20 years, including eight in Indonesia, five in Thailand, plus Singapore, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

His previous positions have included:

  • United States Ambassador to Indonesia and Bangladesh and Deputy Chief of Mission in Thailand
  • Director of the State Department Office of East Asian Regional Affairs
  • Senior Vice President for International Affairs of the Natomas Company
  • Adjunct Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
  • President and CEO of the National Policy Association
  • Founder and President of The United States-Indonesia Society

In 1982 Ambassador Masters retired from the United States Foreign Service with the senior rank of Career Minister and joined Natomas Company as Senior Vice President. This Fortune 500 firm had extensive international interests in oil, gas and shipping (it owned American President Lines). He opened an office for the firm in Singapore and handled international market development, negotiations, risk assessment and trouble-shooting throughout Asia and the Middle East. He left Natomas in 1984 after a hostile takeover of the company.

In 1985 Ambassador Masters was elected President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Policy Association, a nonprofit organization which for nearly 70 years has engaged in policy deliberations on critical national issues. NPA brings together more than 100 top corporate leaders as well as senior leaders from labor, agriculture and academia to focus on trade, productivity, competitiveness and other issues affecting the U.S. private sector. He retired from NPA in 1992.

Ambassador Masters had long felt it was not in our national interests that public and private sector U.S. leaders knew so little about Indonesia. In 1994 he formed The United States-Indonesia Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing understanding of Indonesia’s size, strategic location, wealth of resources and importance to U.S. national interests. He served as President of USINDO for six years and is now Co-Chairman of the Board of Trustees together with a distinguished Indonesian leader.

He holds a B.A. degree with distinction from George Washington University and an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is also a graduate of the National War College and has been decorated by the government of Indonesia for his contributions to U.S. – Indonesian relations. He is married to the former Allene Roche of Old Lyme, Connecticut. They have two children.