Van Foster was formerly the Director of the Department of State's Diplomatic Telecommunications Service Program Office and has over 30 years experience in federal communications engineering and program management.

As Director of the Diplomatic Telecommunications Service Program Office, he managed a major upgrade of the worldwide network interconnecting embassies and providing service to over 40 government agencies. The program included system design, acquisition and installation of leased lines, satellite terminals, packet switches, multiplexers, network management systems and facility upgrades. Mr. Foster managed numerous competitive procurements and worked closely with customer agencies on their information systems programs.

Mr. Foster also served as head of communications engineering and of operations, and was instrumental in establishing many programs for acquisition of message switching and terminal systems, TDMA satellite systems, high frequency radio, microwave, telephone and secure voice systems. He managed hardware and software development activities. As head of operations, he managed the ongoing worldwide activities as well as overseeing the logistics activities supporting the network.

Master of Science degree from George Washington University

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University