C. David Welch was sworn in
as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs on March 18, 2005.
Mr. Welch was U.S. Ambassador
to the Arab Republic of Egypt from August 2001
to March 2005.
From October 1998 to August
2001, Mr. Welch served as Assistant Secretary of
State for International Organization Affairs.
The IO Bureau develops and implements U.S.
policy in the United Nations and other
international organizations.
A career Foreign Service
Officer, Mr. Welch served as the Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. In that position
he played a leading role in implementing U.S.
policy toward Iran, Iraq, and Libya, while
serving as manager of one of State�s key
regional bureaus. To this end, Mr. Welch
negotiated a cease-fire between warring Kurdish
parties in northern Iraq, including by traveling
personally to northern Iraq in the aftermath of
heavy fighting there in 1996-97.
He was the Deputy Chief of
Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia from 1992-95. In the absence of an
Ambassador, he served there for two years
(1992-94) as Charge d�Affaires. During his
tenure in Saudi Arabia, U.S. business
involvement increased significantly, with major
successes in aircraft, telecommunications, and
electricity generation. Prior to his assignment
to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Welch was Executive
Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political
Affairs at the Department of State (1991-92) and
was a member of the National Security Council
staff at the White House 1989-91.
During the 1980s, Mr. Welch
served in key positions involved in the
Arab-Israeli conflict and peace process. From
1986 to 1988, he served as a political officer
at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan and from
1984 to 1986, as Chief of the Political Section
in Damascus, Syria. Prior to these assignments,
he was the officer responsible for Syria
(1981-82) and Lebanon (1982-83) in Washington.
From 1979 to 1981, Mr. Welch
was a political officer in the U.S. Embassy in
Islamabad, Pakistan. In 1979, the staff of the
Embassy was given a Group Valor Award after the
Embassy was attacked and burned by a mob and
four staff members were killed. From 1977 to
1979, he served in the Office of the Under
Secretary for Security Assistance, Science, and
Technology.
Mr. Welch earned a Master�s
degree from the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy. In 1975 he graduated Phi Beta Kappa
from the Georgetown University School of Foreign
Service. He also studied at the London School of
Economics, 1973-74.
Mr. Welch has received
several awards from the State Department for
exceptional service. He speaks Spanish and
Arabic, and is a member of the Council on
Foreign Relations and the American Foreign
Service Association.
Mr. Welch was born in Munich,
Germany in 1953 to parents who were also in the
Foreign Service and lived with them in Germany,
Brazil, Morocco, Ecuador and Mexico.
Source:
US State Department
As of January, 2007
