Margaret Scobey (born c. 1949) is an American

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and former

United States Ambassador to Egypt This is a list of ambassadors (or other diplomatic representatives) of the United States to Egypt. The United States first established diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1848, when President James K. Polk appointed Daniel Smith McCauley as the ...

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 pa ...

Biography

Scobey graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

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

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

in Knoxville. Scobey pursued doctoral studies in history at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. As a United States

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

, 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 is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

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

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

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

Rafiq Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004. Hariri headed five cabinets during his tenu ...

. 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 Mostafa ElBaradei (, ; 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 2013 until his resignation on 14 August 2013. He was the Director General of ...

, 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 Year of birth missing (living people)