Deputy Chief of Mission

Biography

Sam Brock arrived in Kinshasa on August 11, 2007 as Chargé d'Affaires pending the arrival of Ambassador-designate William Garvelink later in the year.  Upon the new ambassador's arrival Mr. Brock became the Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM). 

Joining the Foreign Service in 1983, Mr. Brock holds the rank of Counselor.  This is his fourth tour in Africa, including a tour as DCM in Benin (1996-99), as well as earlier assignments in Algeria and Cape Verde.  Other overseas tours are Korea, Mexico, and Marseille, France. 

Mr. Brock was the Director of North American affairs at the National Security Council from 2002-03.  Among his other Washington assignments are four tours in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, including as interim director of the Office of UN Political Affairs and Director of the Office of UNESCO Affairs.  He was also attached to the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States.

A native of Radford, Virginia, Mr. Brock graduated cum laude from the Catholic University of American in 1974 and obtained an M.A. degree with honors from Georgetown University in 1983.  Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he worked as a contract interpreter for the Department of State and as an administrator for the Government of Spain in Kingston, Jamaica.

Mr. Brock has received two State Department Superior Honor Awards, four Meritorious Honor Awards and Senior Performance Pay.  He was also decorated by the Governments of France and Spain, and by the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. for volunteer work.     

An enthusiast of all kinds of music, Mr. Brock is a pianist and organist and has performed at numerous concerts in the Washington area and overseas as an accompanist to vocalists, instrumentalists and choral groups.  He recently made a CD of Negro spirituals with Natalie Carter, a prominent Washington area contralto.  

Married to the former Odile Marie-Thérèse Soudée, Mr. Brock has four daughters:  Gabrielle, Charlotte, Sophie, and Odette. 

Mr. Brock speaks French, Spanish and Portuguese.