Ronald L. Schlicher

Ronald L. Schlicher (photo: U.S. Department of State)

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Cyprus

Ronald Lewis Schlicher presented his credentials to Cypriot President Papadopoulos on December 20, 2005, after confirmation of his nomination by the United States Senate on November 18, 2005, and administration of the oath of office on December 9, 2005.  

Previously, Ambassador Schlicher served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of State, serving as Coordinator for Iraq in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA). As such, he was the State Department official in charge of the several offices in the Near East Bureau, which dealt with Iraqi issues, and was the principal point of contact through which all United States Government agencies dealt with Iraq.  

Ambassador Schlicher is a Minister-Counselor in the Senior Foreign Service. He entered the Foreign Service in January 1982. He was Vice-Consul in Dhahran from September 1982 to March 1984. From 1984-1986, he served as Consul in Damascus, Syria. He then returned to the Department as Staff Assistant in NEA to Assistant Secretary Richard Murphy. From 1987-1989, he served as Deputy Principal Officer in Alexandria, Egypt. He then transferred to the Embassy in Cairo, where he served as First Secretary from 1989-1991, specializing in internal Egyptian politics and Islamic movements. In 1991-1992, he was Chief Civilian Observer in the MFO, the organization that monitors the security provisions of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Returning to the Department, he served from 1992-1994 as a Deputy Director for Regional Affairs in the Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism (S/CT). From 1994-1997, Ambassador Schlicher served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Beirut, Lebanon.  

From 1997-2000, Ambassador Schlicher was the Director of the Office of Egyptian and North African Affairs in NEA. From 2000-2002, he served as Chief of Mission and Consul-General in Jerusalem. During the 2003 war with Iraq, Ambassador Schlicher was Director of the Iraq Task Force. He then served for six months in Iraq with the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), first as Regional Coordinator for the North and then as Director of the Office of Provincial Outreach. Ambassador Schlicher is fluent in Arabic (several dialects) and French. Over his career, he has received the Distinguished Honor Award, three Superior Honor Awards, two Meritorious Honor Awards, a National Human Intelligence Collector Award, and, most recently, the Christian A. Herter Award. He has also been awarded Senior and Presidential Performance Pay on several occasions.