Nomination of William Arthur Rugh To Be United States Ambassador to the Yemen Arab Republic

The President today announced his intention to nominate William Arthur Rugh, of Maryland, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, as Ambassador to the Yemen Arab Republic. He would succeed David Eugene Zweifel.

Mr. Rugh entered the Foreign Service with the United States Information Agency in 1964 and was assigned to language and area training in Beirut. He was assistant cultural officer in Cairo (1965-1966), assistant public affairs officer in Jidda (1966-1967), branch public affairs officer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1967-1969), and country public affairs officer in Jidda (1969-1971). He was senior policy officer of the Office of Assistant Director for Near East and South Asia in the Agency from 1971 to 1972. He was on a leave of absence as a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City from 1972 to 1973. From 1973 to 1976, he was Deputy Assistant Director for Near East in the Agency. He was country public affairs officer in Cairo from 1976 to 1981, and since 1981 he has been deputy chief of mission in Damascus.

Mr. Rugh graduated from Oberlin College (B.A., 1958), Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (M.A., 1961), and Columbia University (Ph.D., 1964). From 1958 to 1959, he attended Hamburg University in Germany. His foreign languages are Arabic and German. He was born May 10, 1936, in New York, NY.