New US consul general to Jeddah takes charge

JEDDAH: Anne Casper has assumed duties as the new Consul General at the US Consulate in Jeddah. During her first week, she is calling on a number of officials in the Western Region.
Anne Casper, consul general in Jeddah, is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. She served most recently as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda. Prior to that, as the Public Affairs Counselor in Bangkok, Casper led US outreach in Thailand and supported regional initiatives in Southeast Asia.
Casper began her Foreign Service career as a public diplomacy officer at US missions in Morocco, Syria and Jerusalem, facilitating mutual understanding between Arabs and Americans through cultural and educational exchange programs. She next focused on security cooperation in Albania as US Embassy Tirana’s political-military officer.
From January to September 2001, Casper covered European counterterrorism issues in the State Department. She took over the Middle East portfolio after Sept. 11, 2001. She then served as the Near East bureau’s liaison to the Arab media.
Casper graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology from Tufts University. She studied for two years at the American University of Cairo, including a year as a Center for Arabic Studies Abroad fellow, and did graduate work in Arabic literature and Islamic history at the University of Pennsylvania.
Casper holds a Masters degree from the School for Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University and is a distinguished graduate of the National War College. Casper speaks Arabic and French and has studied the language and culture of every country in which she has served. She is accompanied in Jeddah by her husband, who is a Registered Nurse.