Dame Barbara Logan Hay (born 20 January 1953) is a

British diplomat His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Home Civil Service, which ...

who served as Consul-General in Los Angeles from July 2009 to August 2013. Educated at Boroughmuir Senior Secondary School in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Hay joined the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

in 1971 as a visa clerk. Hay had started learning Russian at school and continued her training in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

by spending a year at the Defence School of Languages in Beaconsfield. Hay was posted to the Embassy in Moscow in 1975 as a Third Secretary, transferring to Johannesburg as Vice Consul in 1978. After some time in London, Hay worked in Montreal from 1985 as Vice Consul and Commercial lead, before returning to Moscow, now as First Secretary for Information in 1988. As the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

replaced the Soviet Union, the British Consulate-General in St Petersburg was re-opened, and Hay was appointed as its first new Consul-General in 1991. In 1992, Hay returned to London, before being appointed as Ambassador to Uzbekistan and concurrently (non-resident) Ambassador to Tajikistan in 1995. She was the first female ambassador in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

. In 2000, she returned to St Petersburg for a second stint as Consul-General until 2004. After a terrorist attack in Istanbul killed the Consul-General

Roger Short Roger Short MVO (9 December 1944 – 20 November 2003) was a British diplomat who was killed on 20 November 2003 in a truck bombing in Istanbul while serving as the British Consul-General in Turkey. The bombing killed at least 27 people and m ...

and eleven other Consulate staff, Hay was appointed Consul-General there, a post that also involved serving as Director of Trade and Investment Promotion with

UK Trade & Investment , type = Non-ministerial government department , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = UKtrade.svg , logo_width = 190px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Department for Business, Enter ...

. Hay took up post as Consul-General in Los Angeles in 2009. Hay was appointed as a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE) in the

1991 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1991 were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. They were published on 28 December 1990 for the United Kingdom, N ...

list; as a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the

1998 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppleme ...

; as a Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and a ...

; and finally as a Lieutenant of the

Royal Victoria Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(LVO) in 2008 following the Queen's

State Visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

to Turkey. She is a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(FRSA).

Offices held

References

External links

Dame Barbara Hay
gov.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Barbara Logan 1953 births Living people Members of HM Diplomatic Service Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Uzbekistan Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Tajikistan Dames Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Boroughmuir High School Alumni of the University of Manchester British women ambassadors 20th-century British diplomats