Michael kirby us ambassador biography

American diplomat

Michael David Kirby (born 1953) is a U.S. diplomat and a former U.S. Ambassador to Moldova and Serbia.

Education

Kirby earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1976 and studied at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Career

Kirby joined the United States Foreign Service as a Consular Officer in 1979. His various assignments included Copenhagen, Denmark, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Georgetown, Guyana. He also served as a desk officer in the Office of Caribbean Affairs in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Kirby served as consul at the Consulate General in Kraków, Poland from 1988 to 1991, and as regional consular officer at the Consulate General in Frankfurt, Germany from 1996 to 1998, supervising consular operations at U.S. embassies in the countries of the former Soviet Union except Russia.

Returning stateside, he served as director of the Office of Intelligence Coordination in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department from 1999 to 2001. Back overseas, Kirby was consul general at the embassy in Warsaw from 2001 to 2004, and as Consul General in the U.S. embassy in Seoul.

In March 2006, President George W. Bush nominated Kirby to be U.S. Ambassador to Moldova. Kirby presented his credentials as Ambassador to Moldova on September 21, 2006.

On June 14, 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Kirby to be U.S. Ambassador to Serbia. Kirby testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee the following month, and assumed the post on September 19, 2012.

Personal life

Kirby is a resident of Virginia. He is married to Sara Powelson Kirby and has two daughters – Katherine and Elizabeth.

References

H.E. Michael D. Kirby assumed the position of U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia on September 19, 2012, after serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs in Washington, D.C. Prior to holding this position in Washington, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova. He is a career Foreign Service Consular Officer with nearly 32 years of service in the State Department. Immediately prior to being named Ambassador to Moldova, he was the Consul General in the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, which was then the State Department’s largest nonimmigrant visa post. From 2001 to 2004, Ambassador Kirby served as Consul General in the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. He had served earlier in Poland as Chief of the Consular Section in Consulate General Krakow, from 1988 to 1991. In addition to serving in Poland and Korea, Ambassador Kirby served as Regional Consular Officer in Consulate General Frankfurt, Germany, from 1996 to 1998, assisting Consular operations in countries throughout the former Soviet Union. Ambassador Kirby also ran the consular sections in Denmark and Tanzania. His first tour was in Georgetown, Guyana. In addition to his overseas postings, Ambassador Kirby has served twice in Washington, D.C., first as a Desk Officer in the Office of Caribbean Affairs and later as Director of the Office of Intelligence Coordination in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. The son of a diplomat, Ambassador Kirby was raised around the world, including Hong Kong; Benghazi, Libya; and the United States. He earned a B.A. with Honors in History from the University of Pennsylvania where he studied both History and Biology.  He did graduate work in History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He met his wife, Sara Powelson Kirby, in Paris; they have two adult daughters.

We’re sorry, this site is currently experiencing technical difficulties.
Please try again in a few moments.
Exception: forbidden

The son of a diplomat, Michael D. Kirby grew up around the world, spending time in Hong Kong, Benghazi, and the United States, among other countries. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and did graduate work in History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A career foreign servant, Kirby has nearly 32 years of experience in the State Department. He was sworn in as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia on September 11, 2012, after working as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs in Washington, D.C. It is his second ambassadorship; he served as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova from September 2006 to May 2008. Kirby has also served as Consul General in the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea and in Warsaw, Poland. He and his wife, Sara Powelson Kirby, have two daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth.

The Politic: Why did you join the Foreign Service?

Um, I got a D in organic chemistry [laughter]. Seriously, though, my dad was in the Foreign Service and I grew up interested in things “foreign.” I have always been interested in that kind of stuff, and I ended up marrying a woman who is American but didn’t live in the States until she started college. I thought representing the U.S. would be kind of interesting, and it was a lifestyle I had known.

The Politic: What is the hardest or most taxing part of your job?

People. When you rise up in any organization, it is all about people. In foreign policy, you are dealing with foreigners when you are abroad and understanding the people with whom you are dealing when you have a large organization. You have human beings who are working for you — if you’re lucky, you do. You want real people; people have needs; they have families; they have wives, husbands, partners, and they have those kinds of needs. So I would say probably the hardest part is people because they’re the most important part of what we do.

The Politic: Speaking of peop