A career Foreign Service Officer with the personal rank of Minister Counselor, Michael W. Marine assumed his duties as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the United States Embassy in Beijing in September 2000. He was DCM in Nairobi, Kenya from August 1997 to June 2000. Following the devastating August 1998 terrorist attack on Embassy Nairobi, he served as Charge d'Affaires, a.i., in Kenya from May 1999 until September 1999. He was Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs (MCCA) at Embassy Moscow from 1995-1997, and MCCA at Embassy Bonn from 1994-1995. From 1991 to January 1993, he was DCM at Embassy Suva, Fiji. From February 1993 until April 1994, he served as Charge at Embassy Suva. From 1985 until 1991, Mr. Marine served in a series of jobs at the Department of State in Washington, D.C. He was Director of the Office of Fraud Prevention Programs in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Deputy Director of the Bureau of East Asia and the Pacific's Office of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodian Affairs (EAP/VLC) and Special Assistant in the Bureau of Consular Affairs. While working in EAP/VLC, he made a series of trips to Vietnam to further cooperation on the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action issue.

Born in New York, New York, on Oct 3, 1947, Mr. Marine enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967 and completed his service with the rank of Captain in 1971. Mr. Marine received a BA in Chinese history, summa cum laude, from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1974 and entered the Foreign Service in 1975. His initial postings were as a consular officer in Martinique, London and Guangzhou (1979-1981), and as a political officer in Hong Kong (1982-1985). His foreign languages are French, Chinese (Mandarin) and German. In addition to Meritorious Honor Awards in 1984 and 1993, he received the State Department's Superior Honor Award in 1979, 1981, 1990, 1999, 2001 and 2002. He was selected as a Senior Foreign Service Performance Award recipient in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.

The oldest of ten children, Mr. Marine and his wife, Carmella, have two daughters, Jessica and Margaret.