Nicholas A. Veliotes

U.S. Near Eastern Affairs Diplomats
Loy W. Henderson (1922–1960) William Stoltzfus (1949–1976) Joseph J. Sisco (1951–1976) Hermann Eilts (1947–1979) Andrew Killgore (1949–1980) Richard Bordeaux Parker (1949–1981) Talcott Williams Seelye (1950–1981) Alfred Atherton (1954–1984) Nicholas A. Veliotes (1955–1986) William L. Eagleton (1949–1988) Richard W. Murphy (1955–1989) Robert Pelletreau (1962–1996) Edward Djerejian (1966–1994) Hume Alexander Horan (1966–1998) Edward S. Walker, Jr. (1967–2001) Edward Gnehm (1969–2003) L. Paul Bremer (1966–1989, 2003-2004) Martin Indyk (1995–2001) Daniel C. Kurtzer (1981–2006) David Welch (1977–2008) Dennis Ross (1989–1992) John Negroponte (1962–2009) Ryan Crocker (1972–present) Barbara Bodine (1975–present) Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr. (1978–present) Zalmay Khalilzad (1984–present) William Joseph Burns (1982–present) James Steinberg (2009–present)
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Nicholas Alexander Veliotes (born October 28, 1928 in Oakland, California) is a former United States Foreign Service Officer and diplomat. He served as United States Ambassador to Jordan (1978-81) and Egypt (1984-86). He is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and Council on Foreign Relations.

Early life

Veliotes was born in Oakland, California, on October 28, 1928, the younger brother of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Johnny Otis. He served in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1948 and then went on to graduate from the University of California (B.A., 1952; M.A., 1954) where he played football and rugby. He later married Patricia Nolan, and they had two children together, Michael and Christopher.

Diplomatic career

Veliotes joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1955. He served as consular officer in Naples in 1955-57 and economic officer in Rome in 1957-60 before returning to the U.S. to work in the Secretariat and then in the Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs from 1962 to 1964. He then served as political officer New Delhi (1964-66) and Vientiane (1966-69) before being selected as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Princeton University in 1969.

Ambassador Veliotes was Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State (1970-73), then served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Tel Aviv, returning to the Department of State as Deputy Director of the Policy Planning Staff (1976-77) and then Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (1977-78). He was Ambassador to Jordan (1978-81) and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (1981-84). He then served as Ambassador to Egypt until his retirement from the Foreign Service in April, 1986. ^[1][2]

Post-Foreign Service career

In May, 1986, Veliotes became President of the Association of American Publishers and retired as President Emeritus in June, 1997. He is also a member of the Middle East Institute, Foundation for Middle East Peace, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Veliotes has received the Glen T. Seaborg Award (the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award for former Cal football alumni), the B'nai Brith "Faith of Our Fathers" Award for contributions to peace in the Middle East, a number of Presidential and Departmental Honor Awards, and also the "Chevalier del Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" Award from the French Government for outstanding services to international publishers. He currently serves on the boards of Amideast and the American Academy of Diplomacy, as well as Chairman for the Hollings Center for International Dialogue.^[3]

Service chronology

Nicholas A. Veliotes' Diplomatic Chronology

Position	Host country or organization	Year
US Foreign Service	Naples, Rome	1955 to 1957
US Foreign Service	Rome, Rome	1957 to 1959
US Foreign Service	New Delhi, India	1964 to 1966
US Foreign Service	Vientiane, Laos	1966 to 1969
US Foreign Service	Tel Aviv, Israel	1973 to 1976
U.S. Ambassador	Amman, Jordan	1978 to 1981
US Foreign Service	U.S.A., Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs	1981 to 1984
U.S. Ambassador	Cairo, Egypt	1984 to 1986

References

1. ^ NNDB Profile
2. ^ Nomination for Ambassador
3. ^ "The Hollings Center". http://www.caorc.org/hollings/bios.htm. 

Government offices
Preceded by Harold H. Saunders	Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs May 21, 1981 – October 27, 1983	Succeeded by Richard W. Murphy
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Thomas R. Pickering	United States Ambassador to Jordan August 10, 1981–August 5, 1984	Succeeded by Richard Noyes Viets

Persondata
Name	Veliotes, Nicholas Alexander
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 28, 1928
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death