Ambassador Joseph H. Melrose, Jr. currently serves as the U.S. Representative to the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly as well as serving as the Ambassador in Residence and Professor of International Relations at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Mission, he served as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State for more than three decades.

As a diplomat, Ambassador Melrose held various positions in Washington and abroad, including postings in Vietnam, Syria, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone where he served as Ambassador from 1998-2001. Following retirement, he served as Task Force Coordinator for the post September 11th task force. He then served as a Senior Consultant on Counterterrorism in the Office of the Secretary of State’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism. In late 2006, he returned to serve as a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the 61st United Nations General Assembly and served in a similar capacity for the 62nd and 63rd General Assemblies.

Throughout his life Ambassador Melrose has been involved in numerous charitable and community activities. Currently he is a pro bono consultant for the International Medical Corps (IMC) and President Emeritus of the National Collegiate Conference Association, which sponsors the National Model United Nations Conference.