The new consul general of the USA, Jerrier (Jerry) Ismail, who succeeds Elizabeth K. Lee, has arrived in Thessaloniki.

Jerry Ismail, a career US Department of State diplomat, recently served as Chief of Human Rights in the Office of International Organizations (IO), overseeing the US election campaign for the Human Rights Council, the US Consulate General said in a statement. (HRC), launching the first US joint statement on racial justice and coordinating US diplomatic outreach ahead of the UN vote to expel Russia from the HRC.

Mr. Ismail has served in Washington as a Special Assistant in the Office of Conflict Resolution & Stabilization and as a diplomat in the Australia office.

During his service there he oversaw the planning and staffing of the return of the US-Australia Strategic Bilateral Consultation on Diplomacy and Defense (“AUSMIN”) after three years.

He previously served as head of the Albania Office, promoting Euro-Atlantic integration, including Albania’s accession to NATO.

Among the positions he has served in missions abroad include the position of political and economic adviser in Turkmenistan, the position of deputy head of the political and economic office in Montenegro, the position of the head of the economic office in Kosovo and the position in the human rights office in the Republic of the Czech Republic and in Saudi Arabia, where he started his career in 2004.

Mr. Ismail has received individual and team awards, two State Department commendations, and a letter of appreciation from the US Senate for his work with the Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe. He holds a BA in Political Science and Economics from the State University of New York at Albany and a BA from Emory University. He speaks fluent Czech and Serbo-Croatian and good Arabic, Greek and Russian.

A native of New York State’s Hudson Valley, he is joined in Greece by his wife Lejla, an international development expert, and their two children.