Richard J. Schmierer

Richard J. Schmierer was born in Trenton, NJ, in 1950. He received a B.A. degree from Lehigh University in 1972, and masters (1975) and doctoral (1977) degrees in linguistics from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He joined the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) in 1980, and moved to the State Department with the merger of USIA with State in 1999. Schmierer served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman from 2009 through 2012 and completed his Foreign Service career in 2014 as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA). He was at Georgetown University from 2005 through 2007, where he published "Iraq: Policy and Perceptions." Following his retirement from the Foreign Service, Schmierer reengaged with the field of linguistics and in 2021 published "Language and the Human Capacity." Schmierer has also published several articles in the journal "Middle East Policy." He currently serves as President and Chairman of the Board of the Middle East Policy Council. He and his wife live in Washington, DC; they have three adult children and eight grandchildren.