Fergin, Judith Ryan, 1951-

Judith Ryan Fergin (born 1951) was the United States ambassador to East Timor. President Barack Obama nominated her to the post June 15, 2010. Her confirmation hearing was held on July 21, she was confirmed by the Senate August 5, and she took charge of her post September 9. She left her post in December 2013 and joined the American Chamber of Commerce. She was Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore until retiring in May 2017.

Born and raised in Falmouth, Maine, Fergin earned a B.A. in Government from Smith College in 1973, a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Virginia, and a second Master’s degree in National Resource Management from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces of the National Defense University.

Fergin is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. She served as Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 1997 to 2001. From 2002 to 2003, she participated in a diplomatic exchange program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and then moved to Canberra, where she served as Economic Counselor at the embassy for 2003 and 2004, when the bilateral Free Trade Agreement negotiations between the U.S. and Australia were finalized. She was Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy in Singapore from 2004 to 2007. Returning to Australia in July 2007, she served as Consul General in Sydney to June 2010. Other overseas posts include Moscow, Russia; Monrovia, Liberia; Pretoria, South Africa; and Munich, Germany.

Fergin is married to fellow Foreign Service Officer Gregory C. Fergin, a retired senior Foreign Service officer. They have two children, William and Amalia.