Steven H. Fagin is an American diplomat serving as the United States ambassador to Yemen since 2022.

Early life and education

Fagin attended East Brunswick High School Fagin earned a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College and a Master of Arts from the University of Michigan. He also attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

and was an exchange student at Tbilisi State University in Georgia.

Career

Fagin is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of minister–counselor; he joined in 1997. Early in his career, Fagin was the director of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Office at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, the political-economic counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Belgium and the deputy political counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. He has also served as the director of the Office of Iranian Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs of the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

and as the director of the Office of Regional Affairs in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs from September 2013 to April 2015 then later serving as acting deputy assistant secretary of state of the bureau from April to August 2015. He previously served as the Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. Hu ...

, Iraq. He most recently served as the deputy chief of mission of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. Fagin has also held assignments in Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Georgia and Egypt in addition to serving as special assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and as the desk officer for Pakistan.

Ambassador to Yemen

On November 17, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Fagin to be the next United States Ambassador to Yemen. On December 2, 2021, his nomination was sent to 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 ...

. His nomination ultimately expired at the end of the year and was returned to President Biden on January 3, 2021. Fagin was subsequently renominated the next day. Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 3, 2022. His nomination was favorably reported on March 23, 2022. His nomination was confirmed in the Senate by voice vote on April 7, 2022. He presented his credentials on June 1, 2022.

Awards and recognitions

During his service, Fagin has received numerous State Department awards as well as a Presidential Meritorious Service Award.

Personal life

Fagin speaks Russian.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fagin, Steven Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats Ambassadors of the United States to Yemen American consuls People from New York City United States Department of State officials United States Foreign Service personnel University of Michigan alumni Williams College alumni