Reuben Brigety facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Reuben Brigety
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Official portrait, 2022
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| United States Ambassador to South Africa | |
| In office August 11, 2022 – January 3, 2025 |
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| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Lana Marks |
| Succeeded by | Dana M. Brown (Chargé d'affaires ad interim) |
| Vice-Chancellor and President of Sewanee: The University of the South | |
| In office June 17, 2020 – December 21, 2021 |
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| Preceded by | John McCardell Jr. |
| Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University | |
| In office October 1, 2015 – May 30, 2020 |
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| Succeeded by | Alyssa Ayres |
| United States Ambassador to the African Union | |
| In office October 7, 2013 – September 24, 2015 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Michael Battle |
| Succeeded by | Mary Beth Leonard |
| Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs | |
| In office November 14, 2011 – September 3, 2013 |
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| President | Barack Obama |
| Secretary |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Reuben E. Brigety II
September 7, 1973 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Spouse | Leelie Selassie |
| Education | United States Naval Academy (BS) Cambridge University (MA, PhD) |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service |  United States Navy |
Reuben E. Brigety II (born September 7, 1973) is an American diplomat and academic who had served as the United States ambassador to South Africa. He was the vice-chancellor and president of the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee, from June 2020 to December 2021, the shortest presidency in the history of the college. Previously, Brigety served as dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Prior to that, Brigety has served as United States ambassador to the African Union, as a deputy assistant secretary of state, and as permanent representative to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
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Early life and education
A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Brigety is the son of Reuben Brigety, a physician, and Barbara Brigety, an educator and school administrator. He graduated from Sandalwood High School as the salutatorian. He applied to the United States Naval Academy, and was appointed there as part of the Class of 1995. At the academy, served as the Midshipman Brigade Commander during his senior year. He earned a Bachelor of Science in political science and graduated as a Distinguished Naval Graduate.
After graduation, he served in The Pentagon. Through the Thomas G. Pownall Scholarship awarded him from the Naval Academy Alumni Association, he spent two years at the University of Cambridge in England, where he obtained a Master of Philosophy in international relations. Brigety then served as an active duty U.S. naval officer, and entered training to be a submarine officer. Determined to dedicate himself to humanitarian causes, he requested and received an honorable discharge and returned to study at Cambridge and earned Doctor of Philosophy, also in international relations.
Career
From August 2003 to April 2009, Brigety was as an assistant professor of government and politics and Director of the Biodefense Program at George Mason University and at the American University School of International Service. In addition, he was a researcher with the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch from August 2001 through May 2003, conducting research in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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From January 2007 to January 2008, Brigety served as a special assistant in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at the United States Agency for International Development. From January 2008 to November 2009, he served as director of the Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress. From November 2008 to January 2009, he also served as a senior advisor for Development and Security to the U.S. Central Command Assessment Team in Washington and in Doha, Qatar.
From December 2009 to November 2011, he served as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. In this capacity, he supervised U.S. refugee programs in Africa, managed U.S. humanitarian diplomacy with major international partners, and oversaw the development of international migration policy.
Brigety was appointed deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of African Affairs on November 14, 2011, with responsibility for Southern African and Regional Security Affairs, and served in that capacity until June, 2013. From September 3, 2013 to August 1, 2015, he served as the appointed Representative of the United States of America to the African Union and Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
In August 2015, the George Washington University announced they had selected Ambassador Brigety for the dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs (“ESIA”). He began serving in that capacity on October 1, 2015. It was during his time at ESIA that he called President Donald Trump “a Nazi sympathizer.” In an open letter published in Foreign Policy, Brigety called upon senior administration officials to “vigorously denounce the heinous views of the man they serve, resign in protest, or be forever linked to America’s first Nazi-supporting president.”
Brigety is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a recipient of the council's International Affairs Fellowship.
Time at Sewanee
On February 28, 2020, he was announced as the next vice-chancellor and president of Sewanee: The University of the South, a position he began on June 17, 2020. (The vice-chancellor is Sewanee's chief academic officer, on the British model of higher education.) In one of his first actions as vice-chancellor, Brigety proposed new enforcement measures which were more consistent with the university's drug policy, soon walked back after feedback from the community. This policy was announced alongside Brigety's four themes for what he deemed a "year of discernment." These themes are achieving national preeminence in academics, strengthening commitment to equality and inclusion, increased focus on global citizenship, and the economic development of the Domain to increase amenities.
Brigety was the first African American to serve as Sewanee's vice-chancellor, at a time when its student body was only 4% Black. He faced significant opposition from some students for his tough approach to campus discipline and pandemic-related health policies. He claimed repeated vandalism of his home, without ever providing any evidence of such. On February 7, 2021, Brigety gave a speech in the campus chapel in which he described the alleged vandalism, adding, "The sanctity, the security and the dignity of my family are inviolate, and we are not leaving." He left Sewanee ten months later. .....
United States ambassador to South Africa
On December 1, 2021, Brigety announced his resignation from Sewanee, effective December 21. Brigety stated his resignation was due to uncertainty surrounding a possible nomination to be the ambassador to South Africa. He was nominated for the post on February 4, 2022. Hearings were held on his nomination before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 24, 2022. The committee favorably reported his nomination to the Senate floor on June 23, 2022. Brigety was confirmed by the Senate on July 21, 2022 by a 55–40 vote. He presented his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa on August 11, 2022.
In May 2023, Brigety accused South Africa of supplying arms to Russia during the December 2022 docking of the Russian cargo ship named Lady R. South Africa denied the allegation and claimed that Brigety later apologized for the statement. That comment led South Africa's foreign ministry to summon Brigety and created tension between the United States, South Africa, and Russia. On May 28, 2023, South Africa announced that they would be launching an investigation into the allegations. On June 1, Politico reported that "The Biden administration is furious with its ambassador to South Africa and scrambling to salvage relations with the country after the envoy alleged that Pretoria sent a ship filled with weapons to Russia as it wages war on Ukraine. The ambassador, Reuben Brigety, made the claim three weeks ago in a press briefing, saying he'd "bet my life" on it. He added that South Africa was engaging in "outrageous" anti-Americanism and questioned its claim to be neutral among the world powers..."
Personal life
