Founding Director – James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University

Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian, the founding director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, is one of the United States’ most distinguished diplomats and a leading expert on the complex political, security, economic, religious and ethnic issues of the Middle East.

Djerejian’s career spanned the administrations of eight U.S. presidents. He played key roles in the Arab–Israeli peace process, the U.S.-led coalition against Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, successful efforts to end the civil war in Lebanon, the release of U.S. hostages in Lebanon, and the establishment of collective and bilateral security arrangements in the Persian Gulf.

Prior to his nomination by President Bill Clinton as U.S. ambassador to Israel, Djerejian served both President George H.W. Bush and President Clinton as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. He also served President Ronald Reagan and President Bush as U.S. ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic. Djerejian has also served as deputy assistant secretary of Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, as deputy chief of the U.S. mission to the Kingdom of Jordan, and as special assistant to President Reagan and deputy press secretary for foreign affairs in the White House.

He is the author of “Danger and Opportunity: An American Ambassador’s Journey Through the Middle East” (Simon & Schuster Threshold Editions, September 2008).