{{Short description|American diplomat}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Derek Shearer | image = Derek Shearer for The Nexus Institute.jpg | caption = Shearer speaks at The Nexus Institute in 2016 | office = United States Ambassador to Finland | president = Bill Clinton | deputy = | term_start = July 1, 1994 | term_end = October 31, 1997 | predecessor = John Hubert Kelly | successor = Eric S. Edelman | birth_date = {{birth date|1946|12|5}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | party = | spouse = Sue Toigo | education = Yale University (BA)<br>Union Graduate School (Ph.D) }} thumb|120px|Shearer ({{circa|1994}}) '''Derek Shearer''' (born December 5, 1946) is an American former diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Finland.<ref name="Wadler">Wadler, Joyce. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/27/us/lloyd-shearer-longtime-celebrity-columnist-dies-at-84.html Lloyd Shearer, Longtime Celebrity Columnist, Dies at 84]." ''The New York Times''. May 27, 2001. Retrieved on August 5, 2014.</ref> He is currently employed by Occidental College,<ref>"[http://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/event/4976/ Talk by Ambassador Derek Shearer on the Obama-Romney Presidential Campaign]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140808054608/http://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/event/4976/ Archive]). Pembroke College, Cambridge University. Retrieved on August 5, 2014.</ref> directing the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs and serving as a Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs.<ref>"[http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/events-calendar/ambassador-derek-shearer-sports,-diplomacy-and-soft-power-a-framework-for-analysis/%28year%29/2014/%28month%29/4 Ambassador Derek Shearer: Sports, Diplomacy and Soft Power - A Framework for Analysis]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140808101321/http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/events-calendar/ambassador-derek-shearer-sports,-diplomacy-and-soft-power-a-framework-for-analysis/(year)/2014/(month)/4 Archive]). John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Wednesday April 30, 2014.</ref>
==Life and career== Shearer was born in Los Angeles on December 5, 1946.<ref>{{cite web |title=President Clinton Names Derek Shearer to be Ambassador to Finland |url=https://clintonwhitehouse6.archives.gov/1994/02/1994-02-23-president-names-derek-shearer-ambassador-to-finland.html |website=Clinton White House |access-date=22 September 2022}}</ref> He received a bachelor's degree from Yale University.<ref name=Occidental>"[http://www.oxy.edu/faculty/derek-shearer Derek Shearer]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140804161709/http://www.oxy.edu/faculty/derek-shearer Archive]). Occidental College. Retrieved on August 5, 2014.</ref> His roommate at Yale was Strobe Talbott.<ref name=LATimesStaff>"[http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-brooke-shearer27-2009may27-story.html Brooke Shearer dies at 58; former journalist, personal aide to Hillary Clinton]." ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved on August 6, 2014.</ref> Shearer received a doctoral degree from the Union Graduate School.<ref name=Occidental/>
Shearer co-authored the 1981 book ''Economic Democracy: The Challenge of the 1980's'' with Martin Carnoy.<ref name=ScottAO>Scott, A. O. "[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/1999/05/cody_shearer.single.html Cody Shearer]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140808044815/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/1999/05/cody_shearer.single.html Archive]). ''Slate''. May 22, 1999. Retrieved on August 5, 2014.</ref>
Shearer held his ambassador post from 1994 through 1997, and before that served in the United States Department of Commerce.<ref name=Occidental/>
He is the son of gossip columnist Lloyd Shearer. He has a younger brother, Cody, and a sister, Brooke.<ref name=Wadler/> The parents of his father had immigrated from Austria.<ref name=WooElaine>Woo, Elaine. "[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-may-26-me-2841-story.html Lloyd Shearer; Leader of the 'Personality Parade']" (Obituaries). ''Los Angeles Times''. May 26, 2001. Retrieved on August 5, 2014. Also printed in: "[http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-05-28/news/0105270389_1_nation-s-curiosity-personality-parade-column-lloyd-shearer Lloyd Shearer, Wrote `Personality Parade'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811072847/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-05-28/news/0105270389_1_nation-s-curiosity-personality-parade-column-lloyd-shearer |date=2014-08-11 }}" In: ''Sun Sentinel''. May 28, 2001.</ref> His roommate Talbott married his sister Brooke.<ref name=LATimesStaff/> Shearer was married to Ruth Yannatta Goldway, who had served as the mayor of Santa Monica, California.<ref name=ScottAO/>
As of 2009, Derek Shearer lives in the Pacific Palisades community of Los Angeles<ref name=LATimesStaff/> with his wife, Sue Toigo, a financial consultant.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{C-SPAN|26267}}
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box|title=United States Ambassador to Finland|before=John Hubert Kelly|after=Eric S. Edelman|years=1994–1997}} {{s-end}} {{US Ambassadors to Finland}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shearer, Derek}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Occidental College faculty Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Finland Category:Yale University alumni Category:American people of Austrian descent Category:Union Institute & University alumni