Michael McFaul | |
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7th United States Ambassador to Russia | |
In office February 22, 2012 – February 26, 2014 |
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President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | John Beyrle |
Succeeded by | John F. Tefft |
Personal details | |
Born |
Michael Anthony McFaul October 1, 1963 Glasgow, Montana, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Donna Norton (m. 1993) |
Education |
Stanford University (BA, MA) St John's College, Oxford (DPhil) |
Michael Anthony McFaul (born October 1, 1963) is an American academic who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014.
Prior to his nomination to the ambassadorial position, McFaul worked for the U.S. National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and senior director of Russian and Eurasian affairs. After his tenure as ambassador in Moscow, McFaul returned to Stanford University as a professor of political science.
Born in Glasgow, Montana, McFaul was raised in Butte and Bozeman, where his father worked as a musician and music teacher. During high school, McFaul participated in Policy Debate. His partner was current Montana Senator Steve Daines.
He earned a B.A. in international relations and Slavic languages and an M.A. in Slavic and East European Studies from Stanford University in 1986, and spent time in the Soviet Union as a student, first the summer of 1983 studying Russian at the Leningrad State University, now Saint Petersburg State University, and then a semester in 1985 at Pushkin Institute. As a Rhodes Scholar, he earned a DPhil in international relations from St John's College, Oxford in 1991. He wrote his thesis on U.S. and Soviet intervention in revolutionary movements in southern Africa.