Matt Salmon is the vice president for government affairs at Arizona State University. Formerly, he represented the 5th District of Arizona for five terms in Congress. Matt served three terms before honoring a self-imposed term limit and leaving Congress in 2000, at which time he worked as a consultant to ASU on matters related to education policy. He returned to Congress in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014 and retired in 2016.Salmon was a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, serving as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and as chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. In that capacity he has led numerous delegations to China.
From 1977 to 1979 Matt lived in Taiwan as a Mormon missionary and speaks fluent Mandarin. During his tenure in Congress, he introduced several pieces of legislation to include expand Taiwan’s space, such as the bill to include Taiwan in Interpol. In 2017, Matt joined GTI’s delegation to Taiwan for a conference with Taiwan Think Thank. Matt graduated from ASU in 1981 and holds a Master’s of Public Administration from Brigham Young University.