BIOGRAPHY John E. Herbst Ambassador, Ukraine Term of Appointment: 09/04/2003 to 05/24/2006

John E. Herbst was sworn in as Ambassador to Ukraine on September 4, 2003.

Ambassador John E. Herbst, Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, arrived on September 13 to assume the position of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. Ambassador Herbst presented his credentials to President Kuchma in an official ceremony September 20, 2003. Ambassador Herbst, who has the rank of Minister-Counselor, last served as the U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan. He assumed that post in October 2000.

Prior to becoming Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Mr. Herbst served as the U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem. Previously, he served as the Principal Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for the Newly Independent States, the Director of the Office of Independent States and Commonwealth Affairs and as the Director of Regional Affairs in the Near East Bureau of the State Department. Mr. Herbst has also worked overseas as political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and at the embassies in Moscow and Saudi Arabia. He joined the Foreign Service in 1979.

Ambassador Herbst was born on August 12, 1952, in Rockville Center, New York. He received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1974 and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1978. He also attended the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Bologna Center. He is fluent in Russian and has a working knowledge of Arabic. He has recently begun studying Ukrainian.