Patterson, Anne Woods, 1949-

Anne Woods Patterson (born October 4, 1949) is an American diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer. She served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2013 to 2017. She previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt (2011-2013), U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (2007-2010), acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005), U.S. Ambassador to Colombia (2000-2003), and U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador (1997-2000).

Born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Patterson attended The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas. She received her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College and attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for one year. She entered the Foreign Service in 1973.

Patterson served as a U.S. State Department Economic Officer and Counselor to Saudi Arabia from 1984 to 1988 and then as a Political Counselor at the United States Mission to the United Nations in Geneva from 1988 to 1991. Patterson served as State Department Director for the Andean Countries from 1991 to 1993. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs from 1993 to 1996.

Patterson served as United States Ambassador to El Salvador from 1997 to 2000, and then as United States Ambassador to Colombia from 2000 to 2003. While ambassador to Colombia, Patterson and U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone were the alleged targets of a failed bomb plot while on an official visit to the Colombian town of Barrancabermeja. From 2003 to 2004 Patterson served as Deputy Inspector General of the US State Department.

In August 2004, Patterson was appointed Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Patterson became acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations after John Danforth resigned, effective January 20, 2005. An extended delay in the confirmation of John R. Bolton by the Senate (ending when Bolton assumed the position on August 1, 2005, after a recess appointment) caused Patterson to serve as interim permanent representative longer than expected.

Patterson became Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs on November 28, 2005, serving until May 2007. President George W. Bush appointed Patterson as the United States Ambassador to Pakistan after Ryan Crocker left that post to become Ambassador to Iraq. She served in Pakistan between July 2007 and October 2010. In May 2011 U.S. President Obama nominated Patterson to be the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt. On June 30, 2011, the United States Senate confirmed Patterson by unanimous consent to be the United States Ambassador to Egypt.

On August 1, 2013, Patterson was nominated to serve as the assistant secretary of state in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, which oversees the Middle East. Patterson was considered for Defense Undersecretary for Policy under James Mattis; however, she was withdrawn after opposition from Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.

Patterson currently serves on the Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States. From 2017 to 2018, she served as the Kissinger Senior Fellow at the Yale University Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.

Patterson is married to David R. Patterson, a retired Foreign Service officer. The couple have two children.