Francis Joseph Ricciardone Jr. | |
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President of the American University in Cairo | |
Assumed office July 1, 2016 |
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Preceded by | Lisa Anderson |
United States Ambassador to Turkey | |
In office January 1, 2011 – July 7, 2014 |
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President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | James Franklin Jeffrey |
Succeeded by | John R. Bass |
United States Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan | |
In office 2009–2010 |
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United States Ambassador to Egypt | |
In office August 2, 2005 – 2008 |
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Preceded by | C. David Welch |
Succeeded by | Margaret Scobey |
United States Ambassador to the Philippines | |
In office February 21, 2002 – April 3, 2005 |
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Preceded by | Michael Malinowski |
Succeeded by | Kristie Kenney |
United States Ambassador to Palau | |
In office February 21, 2002 – October 10, 2004 |
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Preceded by | Thomas C. Hubbard |
Succeeded by | Helen Reed-Rowe |
Personal details | |
Born | 1951 (age 65–66) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Spouse(s) | Marie Ricciardone |
Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
Profession | Diplomat |
Website | francisricciardone |
Francis Joseph Ricciardone Jr. (born 1952) is the current President of the American University in Cairo. Ambassador Ricciardone was the United States ambassador to Turkey between 2011 and 2014. Previously he was Deputy Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was also on leave from the U.S. Department of State as a guest scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He has served as U.S. Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt (2005–2008), the Republic of the Philippines and the Republic of Palau (2002–2005). As a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, he received U.S. government and other organization awards for his work in foreign policy and program management, political reporting and analysis, and peacekeeping.
Ricciardone has extensive diplomatic experience with Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Jordan. He speaks fluent Arabic, Turkish, and Italian. He has served in two multinational military deployments: as chief of the Civilian Observer Unit of the Multinational Force and Observers in Egypt's Sinai Desert, and as political advisor to the U.S. and Turkish commanding generals of Operation Provide Comfort, based in Turkey and operating in Iraq. In Washington, Ricciardone directed the Department of State's 9/11 Task Force on the Coalition Against Terrorism and served as Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's special coordinator for the Transition of Iraq (1999–2001). He also has served in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and in senior management positions under the Director General of the Foreign Service and of Human Resources.