Michelle Y. Outlaw arrived as Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy Vientiane in August 2023. She joined the U.S. Department of State in June of 2005. Michelle has served twice in Seoul, Republic of Korea (ROK), and has also had assignments in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Muscat, Oman; and Casablanca, Morocco – in addition to serving in the State Department’s Operation Center and working the White House Situation Room.

Before joining the Foreign Service, Michelle worked as a Special Events program director and a researcher of Korean Nationalism. She is an alumna of the University of Arizona, University of London, and University of Oxford. She is fluent in Korean and Arabic, and also speaks French and Spanish. Michelle is accompanied at post by her husband, Alexis Muller, and their two daughters.