The American ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, was confirmed to replace the current ambassador Elizabeth Richard at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut after being nominated by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019.
The nomination of Dorothy Shea of North Carolina was announced back in October, naming her Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Lebanese Republic, replacing Elizabeth Richard.
Elizabeth Richard, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 17, 2016, as the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, will leave Beirut at the end of this month while Shea will receive her duties in March.
Dorothy Shea’s tasks as the new US ambassador come within the framework of “developing the interests of the United States in Lebanon and the region.”
She declared to the Senate last December that she will work “with the government and the Lebanese people to rebuild the devastated economy in Lebanon,” stressing that “the [Lebanese] politicians should adopt real and lasting reforms.” Otherwise, the government cannot succeed, as she pointed out.
According to a statement released by the White House on its website, Dorothy Shea holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, a Master’s degree from Georgetown University, and a Master’s degree from the National War College.
In addition to her mother tongue, she speaks French and Arabic. She is “a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor,” currently serving as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
Throughout her career, she had served as Deputy Principal Officer at the US Consulate General in Jerusalem.
In that capacity, she held the position of Director of the Office of Assistance for Asia and the Near East in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, and as a Pearson Fellow with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
She also held several positions, among which: The Political/Economic Counselor at the United States Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia; a Political Officer at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel; a Director for Democracy and Human Rights at the National Security Council; a Special Assistant to the Special Envoy for War Crimes Issues in the Department of State.
