Richard Henry Jones American diplomat Date of Birth: 26.08.1950 Country: USA

1. Biography of Richard Henry Jones
2. Diplomatic Career
3. Current Role and Personal Life

Biography of Richard Henry Jones

Richard Henry Jones is an American diplomat and the current Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency. He was born on August 26, 1950, at the Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport, Louisiana. Jones graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. He then obtained a Master's and a Doctorate degree in Business and Statistics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Diplomatic Career

Richard is a professional Foreign Service officer and a member of the Senior Foreign Service. From 2005 to 2008, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. In February to September 2005, he was the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and Coordinator for Iraqi Policy. Jones also served as the U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait from 2001 to 2004, the U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan from 1998 to 2000, and the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon from 1996 to 1998.

Jones has previously held the positions of Ambassador to Riyadh twice and served as the Director of the Office of Developed Country Trade in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the Department of State, and later as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. From November 2003 to June 2004, Richard concurrently served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator and the Chief Political Officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. He worked in Kuwait, securing Kuwaiti support for the war in Iraq and, under the leadership of L. Paul Bremer, implemented an agreement with the Iraqi Governing Council on November 15, 2003.

From September 2004 to January 2005, Jones was a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In February 2005, he was appointed as the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and Coordinator for Iraq Policy. This high-ranking position at the Department of State immersed Richard in Iraqi politics.

Current Role and Personal Life

Jones was sworn in as the Ambassador to Israel by Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick on September 6, 2005. He left this position in 2008. Since October 1, 2008, Jones has served as the Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, based in Paris. He is fluent in Arabic, French, German, and Russian.

Richard Jones has been married to Joan Weiner since 1973, and they have four children.