Francis J. Ricciardone

Francis J. Ricciardone served as President of the American University in Cairo from 2016 to 2023.  His US Foreign Service Career (1978-2014)  included appointments under Presidents George W. Bush and Barak Obama as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Turkey, and the Philippines, and as Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan. After graduating from Dartmouth College summa cum laude in 1973, he received a Fulbright scholarship and taught in American international schools in Trieste, Italy, and Tehran, Iran. From 2014 to 2016, he was vice president of the Atlantic Council and director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. He was a distinguished scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace from 2008 to 2009. He speaks Arabic, Turkish, Italian, and French. He is married to Dr. Marie Ricciardone, a molecular biologist engaged for over four decades in international scientific research collaboration, development, and public policy.