Amb. Stuart E. Jones

Ambassador Stuart Jones joined MEI as its 18th president in January 2025. Stu came to MEI from Bechtel Corporation, a global engineering, construction and project management firm, where he was a senior vice president and President for Regions and Corporate Affairs. He retired from Bechtel in 2024.

Prior to Bechtel, Stu served for three decades as a US Foreign Service Officer in the Department of State. His tours included  US Ambassador to Iraq (2014-17), during the height of the ISIS crisis, and US Ambassador to Jordan (2011-14). Other foreign tours included Turkey, Egypt, El Salvador, and Colombia. He retired as the senior bureau officer (SBO) for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, in 2017.   

Hailing from Philadelphia, Stu is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Duke University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy. He resides with his wife, Barbara Jones, also a former Foreign Service Officer, in Falls Church, Virginia.