George Sibley, a retired member of the Senior Foreign Service, is delighted to return “home” to Jefferson County. Most recently he served as the Diplomat in Residence for the Mid-Atlantic Region (North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia). In that role, he helped identify and guide a diverse cross-section of Americans seeking to represent our country by pursuing career opportunities with the U.S. Department of State.
George’s last overseas assignment was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon. As such, he oversaw operations in an embassy with ten U.S. agencies comprising over 100 American officers and 300 local staff. During the last four months, in the absence of the Ambassador, he stood in as Chargé d’Affaires. Before Burma/Myanmar, he served the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi as the Minister Counselor for Economic, Environment, Science, and Technology Affairs. Before that, he directed the Office of Environmental Policy at the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Sibley has also served in Kirkuk as the Senior Advisor for Northern Iraq, in Mosul as the Team Leader of Provincial Reconstruction Team Ninewa, in Antananarivo as Deputy Chief of Mission to Madagascar and the Comoros, and as Consul General in Kolkata, India. Throughout his career, he has seen the powerful impact that libraries can play in opening minds and stimulating thoughtful dialogue.
Mr. Sibley received a B.A. in biology and religious philosophy from Oberlin College in 1977. In 2002 he earned a Master of Public Policy in international relations, following a year as a John L. Weinberg Fellow at Princeton University. Before joining the Foreign Service, he served 11 years in the merchant marine, obtaining a Limited Master/Unlimited Chief Mate’s license. He is married to the teacher, singer, and actress Lee-Alison Sibley and has two grown sons, three charming granddaughters, and one infant grandson.
