Eric Seth Rubin (born March 30, 1961) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Bulgaria from 2016 to 2019. He was confirmed as ambassador on January 27, 2016, and succeeded

Marcie Berman Ries Marcie Berman Ries (born August 25, 1950) is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Bulgaria. Career A specialist in national security issues and arms control, Ries worked as the Director of the Office of United Natio ...

Diplomatic career

Rubin joined the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

in 1985, being first assigned as political and human rights officer in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

between 1986 and 1988 before returning to Washington D.C. in 1989 to work at the State Department Operations Center. From 1989 to 1991, Rubin worked in the Bureau of Soviet Union Affairs and then from 1991 to 1993 worked as security affairs officer in the Central and Eastern Europe Desk. Rubin was again posted abroad in 1994 as Deputy Political Counselor in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. He worked in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

until 1996 when he was recalled to Washington to work for the

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs is a position within the United States Department of State that leads the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs charged with implementing American foreign policy in Europe and Eu ...

. Briefly in 1997, Rubin worked as the Assistant White House Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs. In 1998, he was made special assistant to Thomas Pickering, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs at the time. Between 1999 and 2000, Rubin became Rusk Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

and was temporarily relieved of his duties. On teaching and lecturing at the university, Rubin said it helped him "think systematically" about his job. In 2001, Rubin returned to the state department and was posted to

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

as consul general. He remained there until 2004, when he was recalled to Washington to work as the director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination in the

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is an agency that reports to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights within the Department of State. Under the umbrella of its general mis ...

. In 2006, he was moved to be executive assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs,

R. Nicholas Burns Robert Nicholas Burns (born January 28, 1956) is an American diplomat and academic who serves as the United States ambassador to China since 2022. Burns has had a 25 year career in the State Department, and served as United States Under Secre ...

. From 2008 to 2011, he was posted to the

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

as deputy chief of mission. Between 2011 and his nomination for ambassador in 2015, Rubin worked at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs as deputy assistant secretary. Rubin was nominated for the post of ambassador by President Obama and was confirmed on the 9 December 2015. He was sworn in on the 27 January 2016. Ambassador Rubin is also on the board of the America for Bulgaria Foundation. Ambassador Rubin now serves as the President of the

American Foreign Service Association American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), established in 1924, is the professional association of the United States Foreign Service. With over 15,000 dues-paying members, American Foreign Service Association represents 28,000 active and retir ...

(AFSA). In December 2019, he and the AFSA raised money for the legal representation of diplomats and other government officials taking part in the 2019 impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.

Personal life

Rubin is a member of a Reform Jewish congregation in New York City. Rubin can also speak Thai, French, Spanish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Russian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Eric S. 1961 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Bulgaria Yale University alumni People from New York City United States Foreign Service personnel