Mark Toner


Mark C. Toner is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer and former Deputy Spokesperson for the United States Department of State.

Early life and education

Toner attended the University of Notre Dame and National Defense University’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia.

Career

As a career Foreign Service Officer, Toner served overseas in West Africa and Europe. Toner was the Information Officer in Dakar, Senegal, the Public Affairs Officer in Kraków, Poland, and the Spokesman for the U.S. Mission to NATO, in Brussels, Belgium. In Washington, Toner worked as a senior advisor for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; as a Senior Watch Officer in the Department’s Operations Center; and as the Director of the European Bureau’s Press and Public Outreach Division.
Toner was Deputy Spokesperson for the State Department from 2010 to 2013, serving with Spokesperson Victoria Nuland. Toner became Deputy Spokesperson again on June 1, 2015. Following Rear Admiral John Kirby's departure as the Department's Chief Spokesperson on January 20, 2017, Toner became Acting Spokesperson. He announced the pass of the spokesperson baton to Heather Nauert on April 27, 2017.