Ambassador Margaret Scobey, US Ambassador to Syria presented a public lecture, “US-Syria Relations” on Monday, November 14, 2005, in 016 Robertson Hall on the Princeton University campus. The lecture was co-sponsored by LISD and the Woodrow Wilson School.

Margaret Scobey was confirmed as the US Ambassador to Syria on December 9, 2003 and was sworn in on December 22, 2003. She was recalled for consultations in February 2005.

Scobey served as Minister Counselor at the United States Embassy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from September 11, 2001 through November 2003. Prior to assuming her duties in Riyadh, Scobey was the Director of Arabian Peninsula Affairs in the Near East Bureau of the Department of State. She participated in the Department of State’s Senior Seminar for 1999-2000. She began her career in the Foreign Service in 1981 and has focused primarily on the Middle East. She served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Sanaa, Republic of Yemen, and as chief of the political sections in the US Embassy in Kuwait, and the US Consulate General in Jerusalem. Early assignments included Lima, Peru and Peshawar, Pakistan.

In the Department of State, Scobey has been staff assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Near East and South Asian Affairs, watch officer in the Operations Center, political-military officer of Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs, and deputy director of the Secretariat Staff.