The new US Consul in Thessaloniki, Jerrier (Jerry) Ismail, arrived in Greece to assume duties in Greece's second-largest city. Ismail is the successor of Elizabeth Lee.
Jerry Ismail, a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, most recently served as human rights chief in the International Organization’s (IO) Bureau, overseeing the U.S. campaign for election to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), launching the first-ever U.S. Joint Statement on Racial Justice, and coordinating U.S. diplomatic outreach ahead of the UN’s vote to suspend Russia from the HRC.
Ismail’s prior Washington assignments include special assistant in the Bureau of Conflict & Stabilization Operations and senior Australia desk officer, planning and staffing the return of the strategic bilateral diplomacy and defence consultations (“ AUSMIN”) after three years.
He previously served as Albania's desk officer, advancing Euro-Atlantic integration, including Albania’s NATO accession.
His overseas assignments include political-economic counsellor in Turkmenistan; deputy political-economic chief in Montenegro; economic officer in Kosovo; and human rights officer in the Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia, where he began his career in 2004.
Ismail has received numerous individual and group superior and meritorious honour awards, two Department commendations, and a letter of appreciation from the U.S. Senate for his work with the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
He earned his bachelor’s degree with honours in political science and economics from the State University of New York at Albany and a juris doctor from Emory University. He is fluent in Czech and Serbo-Croatian and proficient in Arabic, Greek, and Russian.
Proudly hailing from the Hudson Valley region of New York State, he is joined in Greece by his wife Lejla, an international development expert, and their two children.
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