President George W. Bush recently nominated UT alumnus Ronald Schlicher (’81) to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Cyprus. Schlicher’s nomination must be approved by the Senate.
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Ronald Schlicher
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Schlicher is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and most recently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Coordinator for Iraq. Prior to that, he served as Director of the Iraq Task Force and as a senior political advisor for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq. Earlier in his career, Mr. Schlicher served in Jerusalem, Egypt, and Beirut.
When Schlicher’s nomination is confirmed, it will bring to four the number of Tennessee graduates serving as ambassadors.
Schlicher joins Victor Ashe (’74), Poland; Michael Polt (’77), Serbia and Montenegro; and Margaret Scobey (’71, ’73), Syria. Scobey was recalled earlier this year in response to Syrian political unrest.
Schlicher, a veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, is currently coordinator for Iraq in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. In that position, he is the principal point of contact through which all U.S. government agencies deal with Iraq.
Sen. Howard Baker (’49) was ambassador to Japan until early this year when he retired from public service and returned home to Tennessee.