Stephen M. Schwartz

Stephen Schwartz’s 31-year career in government culminated in 2016 with his appointment as the first U.S. Ambassador to Somalia since 1991. Since his retirement in 2017 Mr. Schwartz has served frequently as a foreign policy expert at U.S. military training events and a guest speaker on Somalia and international relations.

Mr. Schwartz served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Zambia and in Mauritius, and as a mid-level or junior officer in Ethiopia, South Africa, Cuba, and Burundi. In Washington he served as Director for the Office of West African Affairs, Director and Deputy Director for the Office of Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Island Affairs, Desk Officer for Sudan, and Special Assistant for African and Western Hemisphere Affairs to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.

Before joining the Foreign Service in 1992, Mr. Schwartz served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon and worked at Peace Corps headquarters. He also worked in the Africa Program at the Brookings Institution think tank and at the Citizens Democracy Corps, a non-governmental organization established to assist the people of Central and Eastern Europe.

Mr. Schwartz earned master’s degrees in National Security Studies from the National War College and in African Studies from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is a native of Buffalo, New York, resides with his family in Takoma Park, Maryland.