Timothy A. Chorba, a 1968 graduate of the Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences, served as the 11th U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore from 1994 to 1998. A native of New York City, Tim was appointed by his Georgetown classmate, President Bill Clinton. By way of historical note, the U.S. diplomatic presence in Singapore dates back to 1835, when President Andrew Jackson dispatched Joseph Balestier of Massachusetts as U.S. Consul to nearby Bintan Island (now Indonesian territory) with the objective of securing maritime access to the newly established British port of Singapore.

Following graduation from Georgetown, Tim was a Fulbright Scholar in International Law and International Relations at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1972. After working in the U.S. House of Representatives and serving as a U.S. Army officer, Tim joined the Wall Street law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and later returned to Washington with Patton, Boggs, in which he was a partner before his appointment as ambassador. He rejoined the firm in 1998, and today represents multinational enterprises in working with the U.S. government and foreign governments to attain their business objectives.

While serving as ambassador, Tim successfully advocated Singaporean purchase of U.S.-made Boeing aircraft and Westinghouse light rail vehicles. He was instrumental in initiating the U.S.-Singapore "Open Skies Agreement," which he signed on behalf of the U.S., an accord that became the impetus for U.S. bilateral "open skies" aviation agreements throughout the Asia Pacific region. He collaborated with Ambassador Robert Gallucci in securing Singaporean financial support for efforts to halt North Korea's weapons program.

Tim is married to Ruth Wimer (B'76, LLM'83), and two of their sons are students at Georgetown — Tim, Jr. is a junior in the College and Christian is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service about to depart for the summer semester in Quito, Ecuador. Their brother, William Gaston II, is a high school sophomore at St. Albans and a budding Georgetown applicant.