Hart, Parker T., 1910-1997

Parker Thompson Hart was born September 28, 1910, in Medford, Massachusetts to William Parker and Ella Louisa (Thompson) Hart. Hart attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1933, earned his master’s degree in diplomatic history from Harvard in 1935, and a year later received a diploma from L’Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, Switzerland. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1938 and served in posts in Austria, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia before returning to Department of State headquarters in 1947.

Parker T. Hart was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Jordan on February 5, 1958 but did not assume the post due to political changes in the country. He later served as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, concurrently envoy to Kuwait and ambassador to Yemen, then as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey. Thereafter he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs on October 4, 1968. On February 5, 1969 Ambassador Hart was appointed Director of the Foreign Service Institute, he remained there until his retirement from the Foreign Service on September 30, 1969.

Following his retirement Ambassador Hart served as the President of the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. and as a consultant for a variety of private corporations, particularly the Bechtel Corporation. Ambassador Hart died October 15, 1997 in Washington, D.C.