Roscoe Seldon "Rocky" Suddarth
[Reinhart, A. Kevin, and Gilbert S. Merritt.]
Reconstruction and Constitution Building in Iraq
" ''Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law'' 37. 2004. (August 5, 1935 – June 29, 2013) was an American
career diplomat. Suddarth was a
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 ...
and served as
United States Ambassador to Jordan from 1987 to 1990. He served as the secretary of the
American Academy of Diplomacy until his death.
Career
Suddarth graduated from
Yale University, where he was a member of
Scroll and Key Society, with a
Bachelor of Arts in 1956 and from
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
with a Bachelor of Arts (
promoted to a Master of Arts per tradition) in modern history in 1958, studied systems analysis at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a master in Music from the University of Maryland in 2012.
[Nomination of Roscoe Seldon Suddarth To Be United States Ambassador to Jordan]
" Speech by Ronald Reagan, 1 July 1987. He served in the
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
from 1958 to 1961.
Suddarth joined the
United States Foreign Service in 1961 and served as
third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in
Bamako,
Mali, from 1961 to 1963.
From 1963 to 1965, he took
Arabic language training at the
Foreign Service Institute
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreig ...
at the U.S. Embassy in
Beirut,
Lebanon.
From there he was assigned first as
second secretary to the U.S. Embassy in
Sana'a,
Yemen Arab Republic from 1965 to 1967, and then to the U.S. Embassy in
Tripoli, Libya from 1967 to 1970.
Suddarth returned to
State Department Headquarters as the Libyan desk officer until 1972, when he took university training at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a
Master of Science in 1972.
From 1972 to 1973, he served as politico-military officer in the
Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs
The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM) is an agency within the United States Department of State that bridges the Department of State with the Department of Defense. It provides policy in the areas of international security, security assist ...
in the Department of State, to be followed as
deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in
Amman
Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...
,
Jordan from 1975 to 1979.
Suddarth became Executive Assistant to the
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 1979 to 1981.
He then participated in the senior seminar for a year before becoming deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in
Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia.
From 1985 to 1987 Suddarth was Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
nominated Suddarth to be
United States Ambassador to Jordan on July 31, 1987.
Confirmed by the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, he presented his
credentials on September 16, 1987. Suddarth left the post on July 27, 1990.
[Chiefs of Mission, Jordan]
" United States Department of State.
Suddarth was Deputy
Inspector General of the Department of State
The inspector general of the Department of State heads the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State and is responsible for detecting and investigating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the United States Department of St ...
from 1991 to 1994 and International Affairs Advisor and Professor at the
Naval War College in
Newport, Rhode Island from 1993 to 1994.
[Roscoe S. Suddarth (Middle East Institute)]
" ''IDMES: International Directory of Middle East Scholars''. Columbia University Libraries. He retired from the Foreign Service in June 1995 with the rank of
Career Minister The Senior Foreign Service (SFS) comprises the top four ranks of the United States Foreign Service. These ranks were created by the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and Executive Order 12293 in order to provide the Foreign Service with senior grades equ ...
.
After retiring Suddarth became president of the
Middle East Institute.
Suddarth also served as president of the
American-Iranian Council[Roscoe S. Suddarth]
." American-Iranian Council. as on the Board of Advisors of the
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at the
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service
Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector".
Persons named Edmund include:
People Kings and ...
at
Georgetown University.
[The Hon. Roscoe Suddarth]
." Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.
In 2008 Suddarth received his
master's degree in
music from the
University of Maryland, College Park; his
thesis was "French Stewardship of Jazz: The Case of French Musique and French Culture."
[Lord, Charles P.]
Class Notes
." yale56.org November–December 2008.
Suddarth was articulate in Arabic,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, and
Spanish. He had two children with wife of fifty years, Michele.
References
External links
Interviewwith Suddarth from
PBS' ''
NewsHour with Jim Lehrer'', February 8, 1999
Suddarthon
NameBaseArchive
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suddarth, Roscoe Seldon
1935 births
2013 deaths
Alumni of New College, Oxford
Ambassadors of the United States to Jordan
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies faculty
United States Foreign Service personnel
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Yale University alumni