Margaret Scobey retired at the rank of Career Minister from the U.S. Foreign Service after a 32-year career. She served as U.S. Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt from 2008 until July 2011, having previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to Syria from late 2003 until early 2005, when she was recalled in protest to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Her last assignment in the Foreign Service was as Deputy Commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

During her career, Ambassador Scobey served as Political Counselor in Baghdad, 2006-2007 and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from September 2001 through November 2003, Deputy Chief of Mission in Sanaa, Yemen, as well as earlier assignments in Jerusalem, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Peru.

In the Department of State, Ambassador Scobey served as staff assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Near East and South Asian Affairs, Watch Officer in the Operations Center, Political-Military Officer in the Office of Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs, Deputy Director of the Secretariat Staff, and Director of the Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs.

Ambassador Scobey was born in Memphis, Tennessee. She graduated with a degree in History from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she also received her Master’s Degree. She pursued doctoral studies in History at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor before joining the Foreign Service. Ambassador Scobey has received several awards, including the Department of State Award for Distinguished Service and a Presidential Award.

Since retirement Ambassador Scobey has resided in Farragut, Tennessee. She has become involved in local community activities, including serving on the Board of Directors of Bridge Refugee Services, Inc, a non-profit that resettles refugees in the Knoxville and Chattanooga.