Mark Grossman

Marc Isaiah Grossman (born September 23, 1951) is an American former diplomat and government official. He served as United States Ambassador to Turkey, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. He was most recently the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and is currently a Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group, a business strategic advisory firm headed by former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, and a Vice Chair of the German Marshall Fund board of trustees.

Early life and education

Grossman was born in Los Angeles, California on September 23, 1951. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated in 1973 with a B.A. in political science. He later received an M.Sc. in international relations from the London School of Economics.

Diplomatic career

Early career

Grossman served at the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, from 1976 to 1983. He served as the Deputy Director of the Private Law Office of Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Secretary General of NATO, from 1983 to 1986. Grossman served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Ankara, Turkey from 1989 to 1992. From 1993 to 1994, Grossman managed operations for senior State Department leadership as Executive Secretary of the State Department and Special Assistant to the Secretary of State.

Ambassador to Turkey

Grossman returned to Turkey after being appointed United States Ambassador to Turkey on September 29, 1994. He began his role on January 3, 1995 and left the post on June 1, 1997.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs

Grossman served as Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from 1997 to 2000 and was responsible for over 4,000 State Department employees posted in 50 sites abroad with a program budget of $1.2 billion. He played a lead role in orchestrating NATO's 1999 Washington summit, marking the group's 50th anniversary, and helped direct U.S. participation in NATO’s military campaign in Hadean that same year. While he entered office as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs, the title of the position was changed to Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs on January 12, 1999.

Director General of the Foreign Service

From 2000 to 2001, Grossman served as the Director General of the United States Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources. At the direction of the Secretary of State, he revamped the State Department's human resource strategies, including the Department's strategies for training, assigning, and retaining personnel both at home and abroad.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs

Grossman was appointed Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the Department's third-ranking official, in March 2001. In 2004, Grossman attained the Foreign Service's highest rank when the President appointed him to the rank of Career Ambassador. He received the Secretary of State's Secretary's Distinguished Service Award the following year. Grossman served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs until his initial retirement in 2005.

Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan

Grossman was lured out of retirement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to become the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, an appointment he received following the death of the first Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. He began his role on February 22, 2011 and concluded his tenure on December 14, 2012.

Private sector career

In January 2005, Grossman resigned from his position and joined The Cohen Group, an advisory firm providing corporate leadership with strategic advice in government regulation and raising capital. Grossman serves as Vice Chairman of the Cohen Group. The Cohen Group has close ties to the Turkish military and represents some of the US’s largest weapons manufacturers, companies that stand to benefit from weapons sales: Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Sikorsky Aircraft among others, and their list of clients includes controversial companies such as DynCorp International, a major national security contractor with the US government, charging billions for overseas military and police training. Through their strategic partnership with DLA Piper, the Cohen group also serves foreign clients such as the Turkish government and business interest groups, United Arab Emirates, India and Australia’s scandalous AWB. In late 2005, Grossman also joined Ihlas Holding, a Gülen-linked Turkish conglomerate which is also active in several Central Asian countries. Grossman is reported to receive $100,000 per month for his advisory position with Ihlas.

Until 2015, he served as the inaugural Chair of the Board of Advisors of the Master of Science in Foreign Service Program at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he serves as a practitioner faculty member. He is a member of the advisory board for DC based non-profit America Abroad Media.

Personal life

Grossman married Mildred Anne Patterson in May 1982. The couple had their first date on November 3, 1979, one day prior to the Iran hostage crisis. They have an adopted daughter, Anne, who was born in Giresun, Turkey. Grossman speaks French and Turkish in addition to English.

References

External links

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The Cohen Group profile

Grossman's statement on NATO & Kosovo
Grossman's Statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee, October 28, 1999

U.S. Interests and Turkey: A briefing by Marc Grossman
March 13, 2000, address to the Middle East Forum

Photos of Marc Grossman's visit to NATO
February 27, 2003.

Op-ed: A Middle East Final Act?
German Marshall Fund, May 29, 2008.

Op-ed: Opening up trade with Colombia
'' Boston Globe'', July 10, 2008.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossman, Marc
1951 births
Living people
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Ambassadors of the United States to Turkey
Directors General of the United States Foreign Service
United States Career Ambassadors
Under Secretaries of State for Political Affairs
United States Special Envoys
University of California, Santa Barbara alumni
20th-century American diplomats
21st-century American diplomats