Joe Salazar

About me
Joe Salazar is the deputy consul general in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was the first UST graduate to be commissioned as a U.S. foreign service officer at the U.S. Department of State in 1998. He has served in Washington, D.C., and overseas in Seoul, South Korea; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Mexico City, Mexico with his wife, Lauren Aulbach Salazar ’91, a liberal arts graduate in Spanish and education.

Joe and Lauren met during student orientation at St. Thomas, and beginning with their service as English teachers in the Japan Exchange and Teaching program in rural Nagano, Japan, after graduation, Lauren has joined Joe at each of his posts.

Interesting Facts
As a U.S. diplomat, Salazar works to promote peace, support prosperity and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the United States internationally.

“I have found my career in the foreign service to be challenging, exciting and rewarding,” he said. “There is a great satisfaction in serving your country and striving to make the world a better place.”

Salazar said his St. Thomas coursework in international studies, philosophy, history and religion gave him a global perspective, ‘a window through which to view the world.’

“It was in my ancient philosophy course that I learned the Aristotelian thought that to live a virtuous life, one must participate actively in decisions regarding the welfare of one’s fellow citizens and one’s society,” Joe said. “It was through my overall experience at UST that I was instilled with a moral obligation to seek peace and fairness in the international arena,” he said.

Joe’s connection to the foreign service was through William J. Cunningham, former director of UST’s Center for International Studies.

“He had a distinguished diplomatic career in the U. S. Foreign Service, and I benefited tremendously from his insights into that world,” Joe said. Joe said, although it can be deeply rewarding, the foreign service is not the right career path or lifestyle for everyone.

“You may be asked to serve in a number of dangerous places in the world, perhaps without your family,” Joe said. “You may have to pursue the interests of the United States with fewer resources at your disposal.”

General Information