Ambassador John Limbert - “Negotiating with Iran: Wrestling the Ghosts of History”

A hostage for 14 months in Iran, Ambassador Limbert holds the Department of State’s Meritorious Honor Award, two Superior Honor Awards, and the Award for Valor.  Before joining the Foreign Service, he taught in Iran, both as a Peace Corps Volunteer (1964-66) and as an English instructor at Shiraz University (1969-72).  A career Foreign Service Officer since 1973, Ambassador Limbert’s overseas experience also includes tours in Algeria, Djibouti, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. From 1981 to 1984 he taught Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy, and in 1991-92 he was a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs.

A Senior Foreign Service Officer, Limbert served as president of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) from 2003-2005. Prior to this appointment, he was Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (2000-2003). While serving as Ambassador, he was one of the first civilian officials to enter Baghdad in April 2003, with the Organization for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. There he was responsible for cultural affairs, including restoring the looted Iraqi Museum. In March-May of 2004 he returned to Iraq, leading a team in support of the U.S. mission there. Earlier he had been Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism in the U.S. State Department (2000); member of the State Department’s Senior Seminar (1997- 98); Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Conakry, Guinea (1994-97); and Director of Orientation at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute in Washington (1992-94).  Ambassador John Limbert is currently a visiting professor at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis.   He also holds the American Foreign Service Association’s Rivkin Award for creative dissent.