Manuel Sager is a Swiss diplomat who served as the Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States from 2010 to 2014. He was appointed to the position in December 2010.

Early years

He attended graduate school in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, worked as a lawyer in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and held diplomatic posts in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and Washington, DC. Born in 1955 in

Menziken Menziken is a municipality in the district of Kulm in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. On 1 January 2023 the former municipality of Burg merged to form the municipality of Menziken. History Menziken is first mentioned in 1045 as ''Manzincho ...

in the canton of

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

, Sager earned a doctorate from the law school of the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

. He later conducted postgraduate studies in the U.S., receiving a master’s of law degree from

Duke University Law School Duke University School of Law (Duke Law School or Duke Law) is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit th ...

. In 1986, Sager passed the bar in the state of Arizona and worked as an associate attorney at the law firm of O’Connor, Cavanagh in Phoenix for two years, specializing in patent law.

Political career

In 1988, he began his career with the

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten, french: Département fédéral des affaires étrangères, it, Dipartimento federale degli affari esteri, rm, ), so name ...

(FDFA) and was posted as a diplomat-in-training in Bern, Switzerland, and Athens, Greece. From 1990 to 1995, he worked in the FDFA’s Directorate of International Law in Bern, and he headed the Division for Humanitarian Law 1993–1995. He had his first diplomatic tour in the U.S. from 1995 to 1999, serving as deputy consul general in New York. He then shifted to the Swiss embassy in Washington, DC, to handle communications from 1999 to 2001. Sager was head of the Coordination Office for Humanitarian Law for the Directorate of International Law from November 2001 to September 2002. For the next four months, he was head of communications for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, after which he moved on to the same position in the

Federal Department of Economic Affairs The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung; french: Département fédéral de l'économie, de la formation et de la recherche; it, Dipart ...

. From October 2005 to July 2008, Sager was an executive director at the

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...

in London, in charge of nine countries, including those in the ex-Soviet Union. He then took over as head of the FDFA’s Political Affairs Division (2008–2010).

Family life

Sager met his American-born wife, Christine, at a youth hostel in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in 1982 while both were travelling around the United States. They were married 11 months later.

Hobbies

Sager is a guitarist and playing guitar is his favorite leisure activity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sager, Manuel Living people University of Zurich alumni Duke University School of Law alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Swiss diplomats Arizona lawyers Year of birth missing (living people) Ambassadors of Switzerland to the United States