Elliott School of International Affairs alumnus James Lilley died in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. He was 81.

Lilley, who graduated with a master’s degree in international affairs in the 1940s,  is most well-known for being the ambassador to China during the violent Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, but he served the U.S. in various diplomatic and intelligence positions for more than three decades over his long career in public service.

The Washington Post reported:

Mr. Lilley, born in China, the son of an oilman and a schoolteacher, had a storied career as an intelligence officer in Asia. Gruff with a no-nonsense manner and a keen eye for detail that peppered his reports from the field, Mr. Lilley was singular in the fractious world of China-watching in that he was respected by both Communist China and Taiwan and across the political spectrum at home.

Lilley visited GW in 2006.