Gordon Gray

Ambassador (Ret.) Gordon Gray is the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Prior to his retirement from the US government after 35 years of public service, Ambassador Gray was the Deputy Commandant at the National War College. He was the US Ambassador to Tunisia from 2009 until 2012, witnessing the start of the Arab Spring and directing the US response in support of Tunisia’s transition. 

Ambassador Gray served in Iraq as Senior Advisor to the Ambassador from 2008-2009 and was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2005-2008.  His other foreign assignments include Egypt, Canada, Jordan, Pakistan, and Morocco, where he began his career in government as a Peace Corps volunteer. He twice received the Presidential Meritorious Service award.

Before joining the faculty at the Elliott School, Ambassador Gray was a Professor of Practice at Penn State’s School of International Affairs.  He was previously Chief Operating Officer at the Center for American Progress and before that Executive Vice President at the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce. Ambassador Gray holds a B.A. from Yale, an M.A. from Columbia, and an honorary M.S. from the National Defense University.  He is a longstanding member of the Middle East Institute.