Pearce graduated from Bowdoin College, and from Ohio State University with an M.A. in journalism in 1973. Prior to joining the U.S. Foreign Service in 1982, he worked for nearly a decade as a reporter and foreign correspondent. From 1973-79, he worked for the Associated Press in Ohio, the Rome Daily American in Italy, and United Press International in Brussels, Lisbon, and Beirut. He then moved to the Washington Post, serving as a copy editor on both the foreign and metro desks, and from 1980 to 1981 was a writer-editor in the book service of the National Geographic Society. Pearce entered the Foreign Service in January 1982, serving first as a vice consul and political officer in Riyadh. From 1984 to 1985, he was a watch officer in the State Department Operations Center, followed by a 1985-87 tour as a country desk officer for Greece. In 1987-88, he studied Arabic at the Foreign Service Institutefield school in Tunis, then became chief of the political section at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait. During the Gulf War, Pearce worked as a liaison officer with the Kuwaiti government-in-exile in Taif, Saudi Arabia. He returned to Washington in 1991 to become a special assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. In 1992-93, he took sabbatical leave to write a book on diplomacy and the media, published by the Congressional Quarterly in 1994, and entitled "Wary Partners: Diplomats and the Media." From 1994-97, he was Consul General in Dubai and from 1997-2001 he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. From September 2001 to July 2003, he was Director of the Department of State’s Office of Northern Gulf Affairs, with responsibility for Iraq and Iran. In May–June 2003, Pearce served with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. He was Chief of Mission and Consul General at the United States Consulate General in Jerusalem from September 29, 2003 through July 2005, and then Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the United States Embassy in Rome from 2005-2008. While in Rome, he served two excursion tours to Iraq, in March–April 2007 and September 2007-March 2008, as a senior adviser to Ambassador Ryan Crocker. President George W. Bush nominated him to become ambassador to Algeria on June 28, 2008, and he became ambassador in August of that year. He later became the Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. After serving as the Deputy United States Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, he was nominated by President Obama to become Ambassador to Greece on 21 June 2013. He was sworn in on 5 September 2013.
Works
Wary Partners: Diplomats and the Media, CQ-Roll Call Group Books, September 1995,
