# American Institute in Taiwan Kaohsiung Branch Office

The Kaohsiung Branch Office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT/K; Chinese: 美國在台協會高雄分處; pinyin: Měiguó Zài Tái Xiéhuì Gāoxióng Fēnchù) represents U.S. interests in southern Taiwan. It is located within the China Steel Corporation Headquarters building in Cianjin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Neil Gibson assumed the position of Branch Chief of the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT’s) Kaohsiung Branch Office in August 2023.

## History

In 1979, the Kaohsiung Branch Office of the American Institute of Taiwan was established. The purpose is to promote commercial, cultural and people-to-people ties between United States and the residents of southern Taiwan.
In 1986, the Kaohsiung Branch Office relocated to the Cathay Life Chungcheng Building on Chung Cheng 3rd Road, Sinsing District, Kaohsiung.
On August 8, 2014, the Kaohsiung Branch Office relocated again to their current location within the China Steel Corporation Headquarters building.

## Key Officers

The current and former key officers for the Kaohsiung Branch Office are as follows:

### Branch Chief

List of Branch Chiefs of AIT/K :
| Name | Term | Term | Ref. |
| Name | Started | Ended | Ref. |
| Patrick J. Corcoran | 1979 | 1980 | |
| John J. Norris | 1980 | 1980 | |
| Donald E. Soergel | 1980 | 1982 | |
| John E. Lundin | 1982 | 1983 | |
| John A. Froebe, Jr. | 1983 | 1985 | |
| Syd Goldsmith | 1985 | 1989 | |
| Joseph R. Donovan Jr. | 1989 | 1992 | |
| Jeffrey Buczacki | 1992 | 1995 | |
| Thomas Biddick | 1995 | 1996 | |
| Darrell A. Jenks | 1996 | 1999 | |
| Stephen D. Dunn | 1999 | unknown | |
| Thomas Biddick | unknown | 2002 | |
| Robert W. Forden | 2002 | 2005 | |
| Tracy Thiele | 2005 | 2008 | |
| Christian Castro | 2008 | 2011 | |
| Gary Oba | 2011 | 2014 | |
| Robert C. DeWitt | 2014 | 2017 | |
| Matthew O’Connor | 2017 | 2020 | |
| Mason Yu | 2020 | 2022 | |
| Thomas T. Wong | 2022 | 2023 | |
| Neil Gibson | 2023 | current | |

### Deputy Branch Chief

List of Deputy Branch Chiefs of AIT/K :
| Name | Term | Term | Ref. |
| Name | Started | Ended | Ref. |
| Originally named as Chief of the Economic and Travel Services Sections ||||
| Tim Neely | unknown | 1996 | |
| Gary G. Oba | 1996 | 2000 | |
| Renamed to Economic and Consular Section Chief ||||
| David W. Seckler | 2000 | unknown | |
| William B. Johnson | unknown | 2006 | |
| Jean Pierre-Louis | 2006 | 2008 | |
| Renamed to Deputy Branch Chief ||||
| Mason Yu | 2008 | 2011 | |
| John Hartman | 2011 | 2014 | |
| Jason Chue | 2014 | 2017 | |
| Suzanne Wong | 2017 | 2020 | |
| Jack Lambert | 2020 | 2023 | |
| Samuel Hoffman | 2023 | current | |

### Public Affairs Officer

List of Public Affairs Officers of AIT/K :
| Name | Term | Term | Ref. |
| Name | Started | Ended | Ref. |
| Mark Azua | 2012 | 2015 | |
| John Slover | 2015 | 2017 | |
| Peter McSharry | 2017 | 2020 | |
| Julius Tsai | 2020 | 2023 | |
| Nelson Wen | 2023 | current | |

### Principle Commercial Officer (Commercial Section Chief)

* William Marshak (2000)
* Christina W. Harbaugh (2002-2006)
* Janee Pierre-Louis (2006-2008)
* Stephen Green (2009-2011)
* Gregory Harris (2011-2016)
* Sarah Fox (2016-2018)
* Dave Averne (2020-current)

### Political Officer

* Jonathan Hwang (2023-current)

### Community Liaison Officer

* Sunny Lambert (2020-2023)