Tracey Ann Jacobson Explained

Tracey Ann Jacobson
Status:Nominee
Ambassador From:United States
Country:Iraq
President:Joe Biden
Term Start:Awaiting confirmation by US Senate
Succeeding:Alina Romanowski
Predecessor:Alina Romanowski
Office1:Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
President1:Donald Trump
Status1:Acting
Term Start1:January 20, 2017
Term End1:October 2017
Predecessor1:Bathsheba Crocker
Successor1:Mary Catherine Phee
Office2:United States Ambassador to Kosovo
President2:Barack Obama
Term Start2:April 2, 2012
Term End2:July 10, 2015
Deputy2:Jennifer Bachus
Predecessor2:Christopher Dell
Successor2:Greg Delawie
Office3:United States Ambassador to Tajikistan
President3:George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Term Start3:September 4, 2006
Term End3:July 27, 2009
Predecessor3:Richard E. Hoagland
Successor3:Kenneth E. Gross Jr.
Office4:United States Ambassador to Turkmenistan
President4:George W. Bush
Term Start4:August 25, 2003
Term End4:July 14, 2006
Predecessor4:Laura E. Kennedy
Successor4:Robert E. Patterson Jr.
Education:Johns Hopkins University (BA, MA)

Tracey Ann Jacobson (born 1965)[1] is an American diplomat and a former United States ambassador to Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kosovo and Ethiopia.[2] She served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from January 2017 through October 2017.[3] [4] [5] She retired then returned to active duty in 2021 as the State Department's Director of the Afghanistan Task Force,[6] [7] and then as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at the Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In January 2024, she was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as the United States ambassador to Iraq.

Education

Jacobson received her Bachelor of Arts from Johns Hopkins University, and her Master of Arts from the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Jacobson has studied Albanian, Serbian, French, Russian, Spanish, Korean, and Tajik.

Career

Jacobson served as Deputy Executive Secretary at the National Security Council at the White House, where she facilitated the development of foreign policy initiatives for the National Security Advisor and the President.

Jacobson is a career member of the United States Foreign Service and served overseas in Seoul, South Korea, Nassau, Bahamas, and Moscow, Russia. Her domestic assignments included the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and the Office of the Under Secretary for Management. She also served as the Deputy Director of the State Department's Foreign Service Institute. Jacobson served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Riga, Latvia, as the U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan (August 2003-July 2006), and as the United States Ambassador to Tajikistan from August 2006 until resigning from that position in August 2009 (replaced by Kenneth E. Gross Jr. as of 12 August 2009). From 2012 to 2015, Jacobson served as the U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo.

From 2015 to 2017, Jacobson served as the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.[8] After the resignation of Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Bathsheba N. Crocker in January 2017, Jacobson served as Acting Assistant Secretary until her retirement in October 2017.[3]

Jacobson returned to the Department of State in 2021 as a senior advisor,[9] first serving as the State Department's Director of the Afghanistan Task Force. From February 25, 2022 to September 25, 2023, she had served as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at the Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.[10]

On January 25, 2024, President Joe Biden nominated Jacobson to serve as the United States ambassador to Iraq.[11] Her nomination is pending before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[12] On June 13, 2024, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[13]

Personal life

Jacobson is married to David Baugh, a member of the British Diplomatic Service.[2]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tracey Ann Jacobson (1965–). U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. November 19, 2015.
  2. Web site: Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson. Embassy of the United States, Pristina. November 24, 2014. November 19, 2015.
  3. Top State Department Officials Step Down in "Black Friday" Exodus . . Colum . Lynch . August 27, 2017 . August 27, 2017.
  4. Web site: IO Senior Officials . U.S. Department of State . March 18, 2017 .
  5. Web site: Jacobson, Tracey Ann: Biography . U.S. Department of State . March 18, 2017 .
  6. Alex Thompson and Tina Sfondeles, "Afghanistan blame game" POLITICO Aug 16, 2021
  7. Lara Seligman, "Biden directs evacuation flights for Afghan interpreters to begin late July" POLITICO July 14, 2021
  8. Web site: Tracey Ann Jacobson. U.S. Department of State. August 2015. November 19, 2015.
  9. Web site: Tracey Jacobson . December 1, 2022.
  10. Web site: Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson .
  11. President Biden Announces Key Nominees . January 25, 2024 . The White House .
  12. Nominations Sent to the Senate . January 25, 2024 . The White House . Washington, D.C. .
  13. Web site: June 13, 2024 . Nominations . June 23, 2024 . foreign.senate.gov.