Ambassador Ryan Crocker is a career ambassador within the U.S. Foreign Service. Ambassador Crocker was in the Foreign Service for 37 years and, after retiring, was recalled to active duty by President Obama in 2011 to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan.  His previous appointments included service as the U.S. Ambassador to Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Lebanon.  Crocker became dean of Texas A&M University’s George Bush School of Government and Public Service in 2010.

Crocker has received many of the nation’s highest honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the State Department Secretary’s Distinguished Service Award, the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the State Department Distinguished Honor Award, The Award for Valor, three Superior Honor Awards and the American Foreign Service Association’s Rivkin Award.

When he stepped down as Ambassador in Kabul in 2012, Crocker was named an Honorary Marine by the United States Marine Corps.

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