Edward Peter Djerejian (born 6 March 1939) is a former United States diplomat who served in eight Administrations from John F. Kennedy to William J. Clinton (1962-1994.) He served as the United States Ambassador to Syria and Israel. He is the Founding Director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and Managing Partner of Djerejian Global Consultancies, LLP.[1]
Djerejian is of Armenian descent. Born in New York in 1939,[2] Djerejian graduated from Georgetown University in 1960. He served in the US Army in Korea for the next two years, and then joined the Foreign Service. He served as:
Besides English, he speaks Arabic, Armenian, French, and Russian.[3]
Ambassador Djerejian was asked by Secretary of State Colin Powell to chair the congressionally mandated bipartisan Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World which published its report[4] in October 2003. He was Senior Policy Advisor to the congressionally mandated bipartisan Iraq Study Group which published its report in December, 2006. He also serves on the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Doha Center.
Djerejian is the author of the book Danger and Opportunity: An American Ambassador's Journey Through the Middle East (Simon & Schuster, Threshold Editions, September 2008. Paperback edition, 2009)
Djerejian, in an official speech as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, coined the description of the purported democratic goals of Islamic radicals as "One man, one vote, one time."[5]
Ambassador Djerejian has been awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the Department of State's Distinguished Honor Award, the President's Meritorious Service Award, the Anti-Defamation League’s Moral Statesman Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and the Association of Rice Alumni 2009 Gold Medal—the highest honor bestowed by the ARA in recognition of extraordinary service to the university. In 2011, Djerejian was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honorary societies and independent policy research centers.
He is managing partner of Djerejian Global Consultancies, LLP, and is also on several public and nonprofit boards. In 2011 he was named to the board of trustees of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
He served in the United States Army as a first lieutenant in the Republic of Korea following his graduation from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University, as well as an honorary doctorate in humanities from Georgetown and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Middlebury College.
He is married to Françoise Andree Liliane Marie (Haelters) Djerejian. They have two children, Gregory Peter Djerejian and Francesca Natalia Djerejian, and two grandchildren, Isabel Alessandra Djerejian and Sebastian Edward Djerejian.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William L. Eagleton, Jr. |
U.S. Ambassador to Syria 1988–1991 |
Succeeded by Christopher W.S. Ross |
| Preceded by William Caldwell Harrop |
U.S. Ambassador to Israel 1993–1994 |
Succeeded by Martin Indyk |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by John Hubert Kelly |
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs September 30, 1991 – December 17, 1993 |
Succeeded by Robert Pelletreau |
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