Rubin, Eric Seth, 1961-

<p>Ambassador Eric Rubin was elected to serve as the President of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) after his recent posting as U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria (2016-2019).</p>

<p>Joining the Foreign Service in 1985 after graduating from Yale, he started as a political and human rights officer in Honduras (1985-1988). In 1989 he was assigned to the State Department’s Operations Center. From 1989 to 1991 he worked in the Office of Soviet Union Affairs where he monitored and reported on the collapse of the Soviet Union. Next, he served as the security affairs officer for Central and Eastern Europe.</p>

<p>He left Washington in 1994 for Kiev, Ukraine as Deputy Political Counselor. While there he was a recipient of AF-SA’s William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent by Mid-Level Officers for his work on the Bosnia crisis.</p>

<p>In 1996 he returned to Washington to work for the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs. From 1997-1998, he served as an Assistant White House Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs and in 1998 he was the special assistant to Ambassador Thomas Pickering—then the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. For 1999-2000 Ambassador Rubin was a Rusk Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University where he enjoyed teaching about diplomacy.</p>

<p>In 2001 he was posted to Chiang Mai, Thailand as Consul General. In 2004 he returned to Washington as the director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. In 2006 he served as the executive assistant to R. Nicholas Burns—the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs at the time.</p>

<p>From 2008 to 2011 he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow. And from 2011 to 2015 he served as a deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.</p>

<p>Ambassador Rubin is married with two children</p>

<p>Eric Seth Rubin (born March 30, 1961) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Bulgaria from 2016 to 2019.</p>

<p>He was confirmed as ambassador on January 27, 2016.</p>

<p>Rubin joined the U.S. State Department in 1985, being first assigned as political and human rights officer in Honduras between 1986 and 1988 before returning to Washington D.C. in 1989 to work at the State Department Operations Center. From 1989 to 1991, Rubin worked in the Bureau of Soviet Union Affairs and then from 1991 to 1993 worked as security affairs officer in the Central and Eastern Europe Desk.</p>

<p>Rubin was again posted abroad in 1994 as Deputy Political Counselor in Kiev. He worked in Ukraine until 1996 when he was recalled to Washington to work for the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs. Briefly in 1997, Rubin worked as the Assistant White House Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs. In 1998, he was made special assistant to Thomas Pickering, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs at the time.</p>

<p>Between 1999 and 2000, Rubin became Rusk Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and was temporarily relieved of his duties. On teaching and lecturing at the university, Rubin said it helped him "think systematically" about his job.</p>

<p>In 2001, Rubin returned to the state department and was posted to Chiang Mai in Thailand as consul general. He remained there until 2004, when he was recalled to Washington to work as the director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. In 2006, he was moved to be executive assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns.</p>

<p>From 2008 to 2011, he was posted to the embassy in Moscow as deputy chief of mission. Between 2011 and his nomination for ambassador in 2015, Rubin worked at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs as deputy assistant secretary.</p>

<p>Rubin was nominated for the post of ambassador by President Obama and was confirmed on the 9 December 2015. He was sworn in on the 27 January 2016.</p>

<p>Ambassador Rubin is also on the board of the America for Bulgaria Foundation.</p>

<p>Ambassador Rubin now serves as the President of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA).</p>

<p>As of December 2019, Rubin and the AFSA are raising money for the legal representation of diplomats and other government officials taking part in the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.</p>

<p>Rubin is a member of a Reform Jewish congregation in New York City.</p>

<p>Rubin can also speak Thai, French, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian.</p>

<p>Eric Seth Rubin was nominated Sept. 15, 2015, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria. If he’s confirmed by the Senate, it will be the first such posting for the expert on Eastern Europe.</p>

<p>Rubin graduated from New Rochelle (New York) High School and then attended Yale. He graduated from there in 1983 with a BA in history and subsequently spent two years as a reporter trainee at The New York Times.</p>

<p>Rubin gave up the life of a newsman in 1985 to join the Foreign Service. His first overseas assignment was as political and human rights officer in Honduras from 1986 to 1988. Following that, he returned to Washington for several years, first to work in the State Department Operations Center. In 1989 Rubin moved to the Office of Soviet Union Affairs and in 1991 was made regional and security affairs officer for Central and Eastern Europe.</p>

<p>Rubin put his expertise on Eastern Europe into practice in 1994 when he was assigned to be deputy political counselor in the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Two years later, Rubin was back in Washington working as special assistant to the Assistant Secretary for European and Canadian Affairs.</p>

<p>He had the opportunity to use some of his newspaper experience when he moved to the White House in 1997 as the assistant press secretary for foreign affairs and the National Security Council’s director for public affairs. In 1998, Rubin was named special assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.</p>

<p>Rubin was able to step away from the State Department a bit in 1999 when he was named the resident associate and Rusk fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.</p>

<p>He returned to regular duty at the State Department in 2001, but was moved out of his main area of expertise when he was named consul general at the consulate in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he remained until 2004.</p>

<p>After that assignment, Rubin returned to Washington as director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, where he coordinated with other nations on law enforcement efforts related to drugs. In 2006, Rubin was named executive assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.</p>

<p>Rubin was sent to Moscow in 2008 as deputy chief of mission there and in 2011 was brought back to Washington to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, where he was at the time of his nomination.</p>

<p>Rubin and his wife, Nicole Simmons, an associate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, have two children. He speaks Thai, French, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian.</p>