Ambassador Lyman’s career in government included assignments as deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa (1981–86), U.S. ambassador to Nigeria (1986–89), director of refugee programs (1989–92), ambassador to South Africa (1992–95), and assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs (1996–98). He served as director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 1976 to 1978.

From 1999 to 2003, he was executive director of the Global Interdependence Initiative at the Aspen Institute, and he remains chairman of the project’s advisory board. Ambassador Lyman is a member of several other boards, including the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Fund for Peace, Plan/USA, the Amy Biehl Foundation, the U.S.-South Africa Business Council, and the board on African science academy development for the National Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the HIV/AIDS Task Force cochaired by Senators Bill Frist and Russell Feingold. In addition, he cochairs the Southern Africa Working Group for the Corporate Council on Africa.

Ambassador Lyman has a DPhil in political science from Harvard University. He has published books and articles on foreign policy, African affairs, economic development, HIV/AIDS, UN reform, and peacekeeping. He has published op-eds in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, and International Herald Tribune. His book, Partner to History: The U.S. Role in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy (U.S. Institute of Peace Press), was published in 2002.