Margaret Scobey (born c. 1949) is an American

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and former

United States Ambassador to Egypt United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

and

United States Ambassador to Syria The United States ambassador to Syria is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of Syria. From the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in 1922 until 1944, had been under the control of France as a par ...

Biography

Scobey graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

in 1967. She earned a B.A. and an M.A. in history from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

in Knoxville. Scobey pursued doctoral studies in history at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

. As a United States

Foreign Service Officer A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...

, Scobey served at the U.S. embassies in many Middle and Near Eastern countries. She was the Deputy Chief of Mission in

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...

, from September 2001 to November 2003, before receiving her first appointment as ambassador, to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. She was recalled from Syria in 2005 after the assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister

Rafiq Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen Al Hariri ( ar, رفيق بهاء الدين الحريري; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese business tycoon and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from ...

. Scobey served as Political Counselor in Baghdad from 2006 to 2007. In February 2008, she was nominated and confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt. In February 2011, she spoke with

Mohamed ElBaradei Mohamed Mustafa ElBaradei ( ar, محمد مصطفى البرادعي, Muḥammad Muṣṭafá al-Barādaʿī, ; born 17 June 1942) is an Egyptian law scholar and diplomat who served as the vice president of Egypt on an interim basis from 14 July ...

, telling him:

The U.S. is interested in a political change in Egypt, but that the US government won't dictate the path which Cairo must follow."

References

External links

Embassy biography"Roundtable on President Obama’s Speech The Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University"
July 8, 2009 *
"Margaret Scobey, U.S Ambassador in Cairo, Egypt"
''Soundcloud'', March 21, 2011 *

''Huffington Post'', Dal LaMagna, July 1, 2007
"Margaret Scobey, the current United States Ambassador"
''Yahoo News'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Scobey, Margaret 1940s births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Syria Ambassadors of the United States to Egypt American women ambassadors People from Memphis, Tennessee University of Tennessee alumni University of Michigan alumni United States Foreign Service personnel 21st-century American women