Officially In: Anne W. Patterson to Cairo

Photo by Salmaan Taseer

On May 20, 2011, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Anne W. Patterson to be the next Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt. The WH released the following brief bio:

Ambassador Anne W. Patterson holds the rank of Career Ambassador in the Senior Foreign Service and most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan from July 2007 to October 2010. Prior to serving as U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Ambassador Patterson’s recent assignments have included: Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Deputy Permanent Representative and Acting Permanent Representative at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Deputy Inspector General, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia and U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador.  Ambassador Patterson has received numerous honors and awards for her service, including the Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award in 2008 and 2010, and the Ryan Crocker Award for Expeditionary Diplomacy in 2009.

Ambassador Patterson received a B.A. from Wellesley College and joined the Foreign Service in 1973.

Ambassador Patterson has been rumored to be under consideration to succeed Bill Burns as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs or "P". So now there's officially one less name in the running.  For the names floated around as "P" contenders, see Laura Rozen's piece in The Envoy here.

If confirmed, Ambassador Patterson would succeed career diplomat, Margaret Scobey who has been the US ambassador to Cairo since 2008.



Related item:
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 5/20/2011

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