The Honorable William A. Rugh

Ambassador (ret.) William A. Rugh was the president of Amideast from 1995 to 2003, following a distinguished diplomatic career that included service as U.S. ambassador to Yemen (1984-86) and to the UAE (1992-95). He was a foreign service officer with the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) from 1964 to 1995 and served at six posts, all in the MENA region: Cairo (twice), Jidda, Riyadh, Damascus, Sanaa, and Abu Dhabi. In Washington, he served in USIA’s Near East/South Asia Bureau three times. He retired in 1995 as a career minister.  

Ambassador Rugh holds a PhD in political science from Columbia University. He taught as an adjunct professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University for 14 years and at Northwestern University for three years. He has published nine books, including The Arab Press, Arab Mass Media, American Encounters with Arabs, Front Line Public Diplomacy, and Front Line Diplomacy. He has also published numerous journal articles and op-eds on Middle Eastern subjects.