Jon Robert Purnell (born circa 1948) is a former United States Ambassador to Uzbekistan.

Personal life

A native of

Norwood, Massachusetts Norwood is a town and census-designated place in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Norwood is part of the Greater Boston area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,611. The town was named after Norwood, England. Norwood is ...

, Purnell graduated from Norwood High School in 1966. He continued his education at Brown University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in European History in 1970. He earned a master's degree in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1973. Purnell worked for the

Massachusetts Audubon Society The Massachusetts Audubon Society, commonly known as Mass Audubon, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "protecting the nature of Massachusetts ...

as a specialist in environmental education. He maintains a strong interest in environmental issues.

Foreign Service career

He worked in

Monrovia, Liberia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...

from 1980 to 1981 and in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

from 1988 to 1989 as a member of the U.S. conventional arms control delegation. Purnell's assignments in Washington have focused on

Russia 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 ...

and

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 ...

. He first worked in Moscow from 1982–1984. He worked as special assistant to Ambassador Jack F. Matlock, Jr. on the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

in 1986. From 1989–1992 he served as Deputy Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General at

St. Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. From 1993–1996, he was the Director of the State Department's Office of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

. Purnell’s overseas postings have included

Almaty, Kazakhstan Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of t ...

, where he was Deputy Chief of Mission from 1997–2000. He served as Deputy to the Secretary’s Acting Special Adviser for the Newly Independent States. Between 2001–2002, he served as a Senior Inspector in the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General. He was Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Jon Purnell presented his credentials as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

on January 28, 2004. In the aftermath of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, Uzbekistan had become an area of heightened importance to the US, owing to its border with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, and a strategic ally in the

War on Terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...

. His British counterpart, who had been there more than a year before him, was

Craig Murray Craig John Murray (born 17 October 1958) is a Scottish author, human rights campaigner, journalist, and former diplomat for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Between 2002 and 2004, he was the British ambassador to Uzbekistan during whi ...

, who writes about their encounters in his memoir ''

Murder in Samarkand ''Murder in Samarkand'' (published in the US under the title ''Dirty Diplomacy'') is a non-fiction book by British activist and former ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray. The book forms an account of his period as the British ambassador in Ta ...

: A British Ambassador's Controversial Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror'' (2006). One of the most serious events that Purnell had to deal with was the May 2005

Andijan massacre On 13 May 2005, protests erupted in Andijan, Uzbekistan. At one point, troops from the Uzbek National Security Service (SNB) fired into a crowd of protesters. Estimates of those killed on 13 May range from 187, the official count of the governmen ...

, in which the

Uzbek government The Republic of Uzbekistan is a presidential constitutional republic, whereby the President of Uzbekistan is head of state. Executive power is exercised by the government and by the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan. Legislative power is vested in t ...

killed hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilians. Calls from Western governments, including the US, for an international investigation prompted a major shift in Uzbek foreign policy favoring closer relations with Asian nations instead of with the West. In July of that year, the Uzbek government ordered the closing of the United States air base in

Karshi-Khanabad Karshi-Khanabad, better known as K2, is an air base in southeastern Uzbekistan, just east of Karshi. It is home to the 60th Separate Mixed Aviation Brigade of the Uzbek Air Force. History From 1954 to 1981, the 735th Fighter Aviation Regiment ...

, which was accomplished by November. Purnell departed post April 28, 2007. Purnell has received the Department of State’s Superior Honor Award and Meritorious Honor Award.

References

External links

Bio at Tashkent Embassy website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purnell, Jon Robert 1940s births Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Uzbekistan Brown University alumni Harvard University alumni People from Norwood, Massachusetts