2009.09.20: September 20, 2009: Headlines: COS - Tunisia: COS - Morocco: Diplomacy: All Gov: Morocco RPCV Gordon Gray III confirmed US ambassador to Tunisia
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2009.09.20: September 20, 2009: Headlines: COS - Tunisia: COS - Morocco: Diplomacy: All Gov: Morocco RPCV Gordon Gray III confirmed US ambassador to Tunisia
Morocco RPCV Gordon Gray III confirmed US ambassador to Tunisia
Gray comes from a family with a long history of public involvement, His grandfather, Gordon Gray, Sr., was Secretary of the Army under President Truman (1949-1950), president of the University of North Carolina (1950-1955), National Security Advisor to President Eisenhower (1958-1961) and publisher of the Winston-Salem Journal and Twin-City Sentinel. He also served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford (1961-1977). One of Ambassador Gray's uncles, C. Boyden Gray, was White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush for his entire term of office (1989-1993), and Ambassador to the European Union under Bush's son, George W. Bush. (2006-2007). Boyden Gray is also a corporate lobbyist who formed the Committee for Justice to promote the appointment of conservative judges and was founding co-chairman of FreedomWorks, the group that organized "tea parties" in opposition to President Obama and his policies.
Morocco RPCV Gordon Gray III confirmed US ambassador to Tunisia
Ambassador to Tunisia: Who Is Gordon Gray?
Sunday, September 20, 2009
President Barack Obama nominated an experienced diplomat to be the US ambassador to Tunisia. Gordon Gray III, who was confirmed by the Senate on July 10, 2009, has almost 30 years experience in the Foreign Service, most of it in positions dealing with the Middle East. Gray succeeds career diplomat Robert F. Godec. Since the opening of the U.S. embassy in Tunis, only career diplomats have held this post.
Gray comes from a family with a long history of public involvement, His grandfather, Gordon Gray, Sr., was Secretary of the Army under President Truman (1949-1950), president of the University of North Carolina (1950-1955), National Security Advisor to President Eisenhower (1958-1961) and publisher of the Winston-Salem Journal and Twin-City Sentinel. He also served on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford (1961-1977). One of Ambassador Gray's uncles, C. Boyden Gray, was White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush for his entire term of office (1989-1993), and Ambassador to the European Union under Bush's son, George W. Bush. (2006-2007). Boyden Gray is also a corporate lobbyist who formed the Committee for Justice to promote the appointment of conservative judges and was founding co-chairman of FreedomWorks, the group that organized "tea parties" in opposition to President Obama and his policies.
Born circa 1956 and raised in New York, Gordon Gray III earned a B.A. from Yale University in 1978. He then served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Oued Zem, Morocco, from 1978 to 1980. Returning to academis, he earned a Master's in International Affairs from Columbia University in 1982.
Shortly after earning his Master's degree, Gray joined the Foreign Service in 1982. He married Connie Bentivegna of Montreal in November of that year while he was studying Urdu at the Foreign Service Institute. His early overseas service included stints in Pakistan, Jordan, and Canada, while he held Washington assignments in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and the Bureau of South Asian Affairs and on the Soviet desk. As he gained seniority and expertise, Gray earned appointments to key offices in the State Department, including as the Director of the counterterrorism regional affairs office (1996 to 1999), the office of peacekeeping and humanitarian operations (1999 to 2001), and the office of Arabian Peninsula affairs (2001 to 2002). Gray returned to the Middle East in 2002 to serve as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Egypt until 2005. During that assignment, Gray was the first U.S. diplomat to travel to Libya in 2004. Back in Washington, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2005 to 2008, where his responsibilities included the promotion of U.S. interests in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, and oversight of the Bureau's Regional Affairs office. Most recently, he served as Senior Advisor to the Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq from June 2008 until May 2009.
Gray and his wife Connie have two sons and one daughter. He enjoys distance running and has run marathons in Egypt, Europe, and the United States.
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Headlines: September, 2009; Peace Corps Tunisia; Directory of Tunisia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Tunisia RPCVs; Peace Corps Morocco; Directory of Morocco RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Morocco RPCVs; Diplomacy
When this story was posted in November 2009, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Memo to Incoming Director Williams PCOL has asked five prominent RPCVs and Staff to write a memo on the most important issues facing the Peace Corps today. Issues raised include the independence of the Peace Corps, political appointments at the agency, revitalizing the five-year rule, lowering the ET rate, empowering volunteers, removing financial barriers to service, increasing the agency's budget, reducing costs, and making the Peace Corps bureaucracy more efficient and responsive. Latest: Greetings from Director Williams |
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