Marc Grossman

Last updated
Mildred Anne Patterson
​
​
(m. 1982)​
Marc Grossman
Marc Grossman US State Department portrait.jpg
US State Department portrait, c. 2011
2nd United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
In office
February 22, 2011 –December 14, 2012
Children1
Education University of California, Santa Barbara (BA)
London School of Economics (MSc)

Marc Isaiah Grossman (born September 23, 1951) is an American former diplomat and government official. He served as United States Ambassador to Turkey, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. He was most recently the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and is currently a Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group, a business strategic advisory firm headed by former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, and a Vice Chair of the German Marshall Fund board of trustees. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Grossman was born in Los Angeles, California on September 23, 1951. [5] He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated in 1973 with a B.A. in political science. [1] [5] [6] He later received an M.Sc. in international relations from the London School of Economics. [1] [5]

Diplomatic career

Early career

Grossman served at the United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, from 1977 to 1979. [7] He served as the Deputy Director of the Private Law Office of Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Secretary General of NATO, from 1983 to 1986.[ citation needed ] Grossman served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Ankara, Turkey from 1989 to 1992.[ citation needed ] From 1993 to 1994, Grossman managed operations for senior State Department leadership as Executive Secretary of the State Department and Special Assistant to the Secretary of State.[ citation needed ]

Ambassador to Turkey

Grossman returned to Turkey after being appointed United States Ambassador to Turkey on September 29, 1994. He began his role on January 3, 1995 and left the post on June 1, 1997.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs

Grossman served as Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs from 1997 to 2000 and was responsible for over 4,000 State Department employees posted in 50 sites abroad with a program budget of $1.2 billion.[ citation needed ] He played a lead role in orchestrating NATO's 1999 Washington summit, marking the group's 50th anniversary, and helped direct U.S. participation in NATO’s military campaign in Kosovo that same year.[ citation needed ] While he entered office as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs, the title of the position was changed to Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs on January 12, 1999.

Director General of the Foreign Service

From 2000 to 2001, Grossman served as the Director General of the United States Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources. At the direction of the Secretary of State, he revamped the State Department's human resource strategies, including the Department's strategies for training, assigning, and retaining personnel both at home and abroad.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs

Grossman was appointed Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the Department's third-ranking official, in March 2001. [8] In 2004, Grossman attained the Foreign Service's highest rank when the President appointed him to the rank of Career Ambassador. He received the Secretary of State's Secretary's Distinguished Service Award the following year. Grossman served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs until his initial retirement in 2005.

Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan

Grossman was lured out of retirement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to become the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, an appointment he received following the death of the first Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. [1] [2] [9] He began his role on February 22, 2011 and concluded his tenure on December 14, 2012. [10]

Private sector career

In January 2005, Grossman resigned from his position and joined The Cohen Group, an advisory firm providing corporate leadership with strategic advice in government regulation and raising capital. Grossman serves as Vice Chairman of the Cohen Group. [11] The Cohen Group has close connections to the Turkish Army and represents some of the US’s largest weapons manufacturers, which stand to benefit from weapons sales to Turkey: Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Sikorsky Aircraft among others, and their list of clients includes controversial firms such as DynCorp International, a major national security contractor with the US government, charging billions for overseas military and police training. Through their strategic partnership with DLA Piper, the Cohen Group also serves foreign clients such as the Turkish government and Turkish trade associations, United Arab Emirates, India and Australia’s scandalous AWB. [12] [13] In late 2005, Grossman also joined Ihlas Holding, a Gülen-linked Turkish conglomerate which is also active in several Central Asian countries. Grossman is reported to receive $100,000 per month for his advisory position with Ihlas. [14] [15]

Until 2015, he served as the inaugural Chair of the Board of Advisors of the Master of Science in Foreign Service Program at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he serves as a practitioner/faculty member. [16] He is currently a member of the advisory board for DC-based non-profit organization America Abroad Media. [17]

Personal life

Grossman married Mildred Anne Patterson in May 1982. [5] [18] The couple had their first date on November 3, 1979, one day prior to the Iran hostage crisis. [18] They have an adopted daughter, Anne, who was born in Giresun, Turkey. [5] [18] Grossman speaks French and Turkish in addition to English. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Crocker</span> American diplomat (born 1949)

Ryan Clark Crocker is a retired American diplomat who served as a career ambassador within the United States Foreign Service. A recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he served as United States ambassador to Afghanistan (2011–2012), Iraq (2007–2009), Pakistan (2004–2007), Syria (1998–2001), Kuwait (1994–1997), and Lebanon (1990–1993). In January 2010, he became dean of Texas A&M University's George Bush School of Government and Public Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Franklin Jeffrey</span> American diplomat (born 1946)

James Franklin Jeffrey is an American diplomat who served most recently as the United States Special Representative for Syria Engagement and the Special Envoy to the International military intervention against ISIL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Holbrooke</span> American diplomat and author (1941–2010)

Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat and author. He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas R. Pickering</span> American diplomat

Thomas Reeve "Tom" Pickering is a retired United States ambassador. Among his many diplomatic appointments, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1989 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. Nicholas Burns</span> American diplomat and international relations scholar (born 1956)

Robert Nicholas Burns is an American diplomat and international relations scholar who has been serving as the United States ambassador to China since 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Vershbow</span> American diplomat (born 1952)

Alexander Russell "Sandy" Vershbow is an American diplomat and former Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliott School of International Affairs</span> International relations school of George Washington University

The Elliott School of International Affairs is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is highly ranked in international affairs and is the largest school of international relations in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Braucher Wood</span> American ambassador

William Braucher Wood is the U.S. Envoy for International Sanctions Implementation at the Department of State. He is a former Ambassador from the United States of America to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. Robert Pearson</span> American diplomat

W. Robert Pearson is a former Foreign Service Officer who served as United States Ambassador to Turkey (2000–2003) and later as Director of Human Resources in the Foreign Service until his retirement in 2006. He became the fourth President of the nonprofit International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) in November 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zamir Kabulov</span> Russian diplomat

Zamir Kabulov is a high rank career diplomat and Russian presidential envoy to Afghanistan. He is the Special Representative for Afghanistan since 2022

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David D. Pearce</span> American diplomat

David Duane Pearce is an American diplomat who served from 2013 to 2016 as the U.S. Ambassador to Greece. He also served as the United States Ambassador to Algeria, 2008–11 and as the U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem from 2003-2005. He was the Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2011-2012; and served as the Acting United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia from 2012-2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl Anthony Wayne</span> American diplomat

Earl Anthony Wayne is an American diplomat. Formerly Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Ambassador to Argentina and Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan, Wayne served nearly four years as Ambassador to Mexico. He was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate in August, 2011. He departed Mexico City for Washington July 31, 2015 and retired from the State Department on September 30, 2015. Wayne attained the highest rank in the U.S. diplomatic service: Career Ambassador. He is currently a Professorial Lecturer and Distinguished Diplomat in Residence at American University's School of International Service where he teaches courses related to diplomacy and US foreign policy. Wayne also works with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Atlantic Council, the Center for Strategic and International Studies,. Wayne is co-chair of the Mexico Institute's Advisory Board at the Wilson Center. He is also on the board of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Public Diplomacy Council of America. Wayne is an independent consultant, speaker and writer and works with several not-for-profit professional associations. He was an adviser for HSBC Latin America on improving management of financial crime risk from 2015 until 2019 and served on the board of the American Foreign Service Association from 2017 to 2019.

George Southall Vest was an American diplomat and State Department official. He served as United States ambassador to the European Community from 1981 to 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Beth Long</span> American diplomat, and entrepreneur (born 1963)

Mary Beth Long is an American foreign policy expert, entrepreneur, and former U.S. Government official. From 2007 to 2009, Long served as the first woman confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and as such, was the first female civilian four-star military equivalent in the history of the Pentagon. She led the International Security Affairs (ISA) office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense responsible for policy for the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. She was also the first woman ever to be appointed as Chair of NATO's High Level Group (HLG), the highest-level responsible for NATO's nuclear policy and reporting directly to the Secretary General of NATO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul W. Jones</span> American diplomat (born 1960)

Paul Wayne Jones is an American diplomat who was the United States Chargé d'affaires to Pakistan and the former United States Ambassador to Poland. Prior to that, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State and earlier he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia. He arrived in Warsaw, Poland, and began serving as ambassador on September 24, 2015. He is widely regarded as one of the Foreign Service's only senior experts on both Europe and East Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John R. Bass</span> American diplomat (born 1964)

John Rodney Bass II is an American diplomat, who has served as the under secretary of state for management since December 2021. He was the United States ambassador to Afghanistan from 2017 to 2020, the United States ambassador to Turkey from 2014 to 2017 and the United States ambassador to Georgia from 2009 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Hammer (diplomat)</span> American diplomat (born 1963)

Michael A. Hammer is an American diplomat who is serving as the United States Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa as of 2022. A career member of the United States Foreign Service, Hammer previously served as the United States ambassador to Chile from 2014 to 2016 and the United States ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2018 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly C. Degnan</span> American diplomat

Kelly Colleen Degnan is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, who served as the United States Ambassador to Georgia from 2020 to 2023. Prior to that she served as the Political Advisor to the Commander of United States Naval Forces Europe / United States Naval Forces Africa. Previously, she was the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) to the U.S. Mission to Italy and San Marino in Rome, Italy. In September 2019, she was nominated to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Georgia.

The United States special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) was a position in the State Department that reported directly to the secretary of state. The Office of the Special Representative's purpose was to coordinate the department's activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan during the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), in conjunction with increased numbers of troops during the Obama presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela P. Aggeler</span> American diplomat

Angela Price Aggeler is an American diplomat who is the United States ambassador to North Macedonia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Cohen Group biography". The Cohen Group. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "US Department of State biography". Archived from the original on April 11, 2012. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
  3. ↑ "Team". cohengroup.net. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Our People" . Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES MARC GROSSMAN AS AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY". clinton6.nara.gov/. The White House Office of the Press Secretary. September 12, 1994. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  6. ↑ "President Clinton today announced his intent to nominate Marc Grossman as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs". clintonwhitehouse6.archives.gov. May 21, 1997. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  7. ↑ "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR MARC GROSSMAN" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 30 January 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  8. ↑ "Marc Isaiah Grossman (1951–)".
  9. ↑ Landler, Mark (February 14, 2011). "Pakistan and Afghanistan to Get New U.S. Envoy". The New York Times . New York City . Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  10. ↑ DeYoung, Karen (November 27, 2012). "Marc Grossman resigning Afghan-Pakistan post". The Washington Post . Washington, D.C. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Expertise". The Cohen Group. Archived from the original on 2014-04-05. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  12. ↑ David Hilzenrath: From Public Life to Private Business, Washington Post, 28 May 2006
  13. ↑ Ken Silverstein: Lost in the Valley of the Wolves Archived 2012-06-14 at the Wayback Machine , Harper's Magazine, November of 2006
  14. ↑ Eski büyükelçi İhlas'a transfer, Sabah , 1 September 2005
  15. ↑ Bank Asya İhlas savaşı, Odatv , 5 Februar 2014
  16. ↑ "Marc I Grossman". Explore.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  17. ↑ "James K. Glassman | AMERICA ABROAD MEDIA". Archived from the original on 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
  18. 1 2 3 Patterson, Mildred Anne (May 6, 2003). "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project - MILDRED A. PATTERSON" (Interview). Interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Turkey
January 3, 1995 – June 1, 1997		Succeeded by
Preceded by Director General of the Foreign Service
June 19, 2000 – March 26, 2001		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs
August 5, 1997 – May 31, 2000		Succeeded by
Preceded by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
March 26, 2001 – February 25, 2005		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.