John Lawrence Paynter

John Lawrence Paynter was a Canadian diplomat who served as Ambassador to Russia, China, Thailand, Laos, Burma, Vietnam, and Mongolia and as High Commissioner to India and Nepal. He held academic degrees from The University of British Columbia, Tufts University and Oxford University. He received a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship to Oxford in 1963. He died October 31, 1995, shortly after his appointment as Ambassador to China.