Hugh Simon

Florida’s Undersecretary for International Affairs

Hugh Simon is coordinator of Florida’s foreign involvement, working with the many Florida institutions that engage in overseas-related activities.

Named to the position by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris in February 2000, he heads the Department of State’s Office of International Affairs in Tallahassee and a branch office in Miami.

Dr. Simon is an experienced career diplomat, having entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1970 and served in diplomatic assignments in Athens, The Hague, Berlin and at several posts in Latin American and the Caribbean.

In Washington, his assignments at the U.S. Department of State included Cuban Affairs, Berlin Affairs and Human Rights Affairs.

Dr. Simon also served as the State Department’s Deputy Director of Central American Affairs as the United States was adjusting its post-Cold War policies in the region.

Hugh Simon received his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the American University in Washington, D.C., and earned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina.