Who Is He?:
Zalmay Khalilzad was born March 22, 1951 in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. He became a U.S. citizen in 1984.
Education:
Khalilzad received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the American University in Beirut and his doctorate from the University of Chicago. He taught political science at Columbia University for a decade.
Experience:
Khalilzad was nominated on January 8, 2007 to become the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He replaced John Bolton and became the first Muslim to serve in an American presidential cabinet.
Prior to this Khalilzad was:
- Special Assistant to the President, National Security Council staff (2000-2003)
- U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-2005)
- U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (2005-2006)
Statements:
Fun Facts:
Khalilzad first came to the United States in 1966 as a high school exchange student near Modesto, California. His wife, Cheryl Benard is an Austrian native and political analyst at the RAND Corporation.