Draft:Donald Tiffany Bliss

Donald Tiffany Bliss is an American lawyer, retired ambassador, government executive, author, and teacher of Mark Twain courses at Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes.

Early life and education
Donald Tiffany Bliss was born on November 24, 1941, in Norwalk, Connecticut, to parents Donald Tiffany Bliss and Marina (Popova) Bliss. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from Harvard University in 1966 and his bachelor's in arts, from Principia College in 1963.

Career
Donald's early career includes positions as Consultant for the Judiciary in American Samoa for 1968, and Legislative Counsel to the Congress of Micronesia during the summers of 1967 and 1968. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer Attorney in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Pohnpei) from 1966 to1967. From 1976 to 2005, he was an Attorney and Partner at O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Washington D.C., and later became Of Counsel and a Retired Partner at O'Melveny from 2009 onward. He was the U.S. Ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) under the U.S. Department of State in Montreal, Canada, from 2006 to 2009. From June 2013 to 2017, he was the President of UNA-NCA and a Board member since 2009.

At O'Melveny, he chaired the Transportation Practice from 1979 to 2005. His governmental service includes roles as Acting General Counsel (1976-1977) and Deputy General Counsel (1975-1977) of the U.S. Department of Transportation. He was also the Executive Secretary of the U.S. Agency for International Development for 1973 and 1974. He was appointed Executive Secretary of the U.S. Department of Justice by Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson, from which he resigned on October 20, 1973, in the Saturday Night Massacre. Bliss also served as Executive Secretary to the Department of Health, Education & Welfare (1969-1973) under Secretary Elliot L. Richardson.

Awards
He was honoured with the Arthur W. Johnson Leadership Award by the United Nations Association in 2017 and received the Lolo Sarnoff Award for Contribution to the Arts in 2012. Bliss was awarded the Superior Achievement Award by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1976.

Family
In 2012, Donald's elder son Evan Bliss died of pulmonary embolism on 27th August at his home in Bethesda. Donald's book "Evan: A Father's Tribute to His Son" is dedicated to the memory of his elder son.