Richard Jones (U.S. diplomat)

Richard Jones
United States Ambassador to Lebanon
Incumbent
Assumed office October 31, 2015 Acting
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	David Hale
Succeeded by	Elizabeth Richard (Designate)
In office February 2, 1996 – July 8, 1998
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Ronald Schlicher
Succeeded by	David Satterfield
United States Ambassador to Israel
In office September 26, 2005 – April 27, 2008
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Daniel Kurtzer
Succeeded by	James Cunningham
United States Ambassador to Kuwait
In office October 1, 2001 – July 26, 2004
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	James Larocco
Succeeded by	Richard LeBaron
United States Ambassador to Kazakhstan
In office January 23, 1999 – June 10, 2001
President	Bill Clinton George W. Bush
Preceded by	Elizabeth Jones
Succeeded by	Larry Napper
Personal details
Born	(1950-08-26) August 26, 1950 Barksdale, Louisiana, U.S.
Alma mater	Harvey Mudd College University of Wisconsin, Madison

Richard Henry Jones (born August 26, 1950) is an American diplomat and the current Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency.

Jones is a career Foreign Service Officer and member of the Senior Foreign Service. He has served as United States Ambassador to Israel (2005–2008), Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and Coordinator for Iraq Policy (February–September 2005), Ambassador to Kuwait (2001–2004), Ambassador to Kazakhstan (1998–2000), and Ambassador to Lebanon (1996–1998).

Early life and education

Jones was born at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. He received his Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in mathematics from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California and earned a master's and doctorate in business/statistics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Career

Jones has been twice posted to the embassy in Riyadh and has also served in Paris and Tunis and was director of the Division of Developed Country Trade in the Office of Egyptian Affairs (1987–1989) in the State Department, and later director of the Office of Egyptian Affairs.

Jones served as ambassador to Lebanon from February 1996 until July 1998 and ambassador to Kazakhstan from December 1998 until July 2001. He served as ambassador to Kuwait from September 2001 until July 2004. From November 2003 until June 2004, Jones served concurrently as Chief Policy Officer and Deputy Administrator for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. He worked in Kuwait to enlisting Kuwaiti support for the Iraq War and worked under L. Paul Bremer to implement the November 15, 2003 Agreement with the Iraqi Governing Council. Jones was a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government from September 2004 until January 2005.

In February 2005 Jones was named Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and Coordinator for Iraq Policy (S/I) the highest-ranking State Department post focused entirely on Iraq policy. Jones chaired an Under Secretary of State-level interagency steering group charged with reviewing and developing Iraq policy and led U.S. diplomatic efforts on Iraq with the international community, including preparations for the June 22, 2005 Iraq International Conference in Brussels.

Jones was sworn in as ambassador to Israel by Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick on September 6, 2005. He left that position on August 1, 2008.

Jones served as the deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency, based in Paris from 1 October 2008 until end of September 2013.

Jones most recently served as Chargé d'affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon from November 2015 until June 2016.

Personal life

He is fluent in Arabic, French, German, and Russian. He served two terms on the board of the Saudi Arabian International School in Riyadh. He enjoys hiking and bicycling, as well as winter and racquet sports.

Jones married Joan Wiener in 1973 and has four children: Josh (1977), Vera (1980), Ben (1991), and Hope (1992).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richard Henry Jones.

• Entry at the United States Department of State directory
• CV of Richard H. Jones (IEA website)
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Ambassadors of the United States of America to the State of Israel
James Grover McDonald (1949–50) Monnett Bain Davis (1951–53) Edward B. Lawson (1954–59) Ogden R. Reid (1959–61) Walworth Barbour (1961–73) Kenneth Keating (1973–75) Malcolm Toon (1975–76) Samuel W. Lewis (1977–85) Thomas R. Pickering (1985–88) William Andreas Brown (1988–92) William C. Harrop (1992–93) Edward Djerejian (1994) Martin Indyk (1995–97) Edward S. Walker Jr. (1997–2000) Martin Indyk (2000–01) Daniel C. Kurtzer (2001–05) Richard Jones (2005–08) James B. Cunningham (2008–11) Daniel B. Shapiro (2011–)