Embassy of the United States

Ambassador

Ambassador Joseph Evan LeBaron

Ambassador Joseph Evan LeBaron 

Joseph Evan LeBaron was sworn in as Ambassador to the State of Qatar on July 18, 2008.  A career member of the United States diplomatic corps, he has previously served as Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.  

Ambassador LeBaron joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1980 after earning his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. His first assignment was as vice-consul at the U.S. Embassy in Doha. Later postings included Amman, Ankara, and Istanbul.  He then returned to Washington to become Lebanon desk officer at the Department of State.  

In 1989, the State Department detailed Ambassador LeBaron to the U.S. Senate to serve on the national security and foreign affairs staff of Majority Leader George J. Mitchell. To prepare for an assignment as Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Ambassador LeBaron then studied Persian.  He was also detailed briefly to northern Iraq at the end of Gulf War to work with Operation Provide Comfort.   

Other assignments included Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Manama, Bahrain and Deputy Director of the Office of Iran and Iraq in the State Department's Near East Bureau. His last Washington assignment was as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.   

Before joining the Foreign Service, Ambassador LeBaron studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Affairs at the American University of Beirut and was a Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Khartoum. He is a graduate of Portland State University in Oregon and an alumnus of MIT's Seminar XXI on International Relations. In 2001-03, he was a part time member of the graduate faculty of the Elliott School for International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, DC. He is the author of For God or Country, a study of the interrelationship between economic development and two political movements, one Islamist, the other secular, in pre-independence Sudan. His languages include Arabic and Turkish.   

In 2006, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania awarded Ambassador LeBaron the rank of Commander in the National Order of Merit, the highest rank accorded Ambassadors. In July 2008, in recognition of his service as Political Advisor, U.S. Special Operations Command, he was awarded the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal.  Ambassador LeBaron also is the recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Service Award, the State Department's Superior, Meritorious, and Senior Performance Awards, as well as the Sinclaire Language Award for the distinguished study of Persian.   

Ambassador LeBaron is married to Elinor R. LeBaron (nee Drake). They have a daughter, Petra.