PSU Grad Sworn in as Qatar Ambassador

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PSU grad returns to campus today to be sworn in as an ambassador

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/07/psu_grad_returns_to_school_for.html

Swearing-in ceremonies for U.S. Ambassadors are usually held with much pomp and circumstance in Washington, D.C., often at the State Department, or at their foreign outposts.

But this afternoon Portland State University alumnus Joseph LeBaron will be sworn in as the ambassador to Qatar on the patio at the Simon Benson House in the South Park Blocks at 4 p.m.

"It is very unusual -- the first time I've ever heard of it happening outside D.C.,'' said David A. Staples, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State's bureau of Near Eastern affairs. "Most ambassadors want that pomp and ceremony, but he already had that when he was sworn in as the ambassador to Mauritania."

LeBaron, 60, said he arranged the unprecedented outside-Washington swearing-in ceremony to bring the Foreign Service beyond the Beltway.

LeBaron graduated from PSU in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree and earned his Ph.D in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University. He joined the Foreign service in 1980, and his diplomatic career included being a vice-consul in Doha, Qatar.

President George Bush nominated LeBaron for the ambassadorship in February, and he was confirmed by the Senate in early June.

He began his diplomatic career in 1980 when he joined the U.S. Foreign Service, and later with assignments to the Near East as vice-consul at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar. He speaks Turkish, Persian and Arabic.

PSU officials said university's interim president, Michael Reardon, will speak, and the oath will be administered by Paul De Muniz, chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, himself a PSU alum.

 

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LeBaron to help connect PSU and Qatar
Joseph LeBaron one of many PSU alumni now holding U.S. government positions in the Middle East


http://media.www.dailyvanguard.com/media/storage/paper941/news/2008/07/23/News/Lebaron.To.Help.Connect.Psu.And.Qatar-3393567.shtml

As a Portland State alumnus, LeBaron hopes to be a critical connection between PSU and the Middle East.
"I certainly hope to become active in the PSU Alumni Association," he said. "I look forward to finding ways to promote the connection between PSU and Portland and the state of Oregon to Qatar."

 

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Portland State and Qatar have a strong bond

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=320817&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

Former students of Portland State University in Oregon were welcomed to US Ambassador Joseph LeBaron’s residence yesterday evening.
The envoy, himself a graduate from the school, spoke about the strong relationship between the university and Qatar.
LeBaron, who studied sociology and urban development at the university before completing his PhD at Princeton, talked about the particularly strong ties between Portland State and Qatar, adding that many prominent Qataris studied at the university, including the Minister of Justice, HE Hassan bin Abduallah al-Ghanem.
LeBaron, whose wife also graduated from Portland State, added that the people of Oregon had made a real effort to welcome people from the Middle East, which was a major contributory factor to the popularity of the university with students from the Gulf.
He said that he would continue to work to ensure that the bond between the university and Qataris remained strong, and provide prospective students with all the information they require.
“Whether families want their children to study in the US or to study at one of the US universities at Education City, we are here to do everything we can to help them make their choice happen,” he said.
Associate vice provost for enrolment management and student affairs at Portland State, Agnes Hoffman explained that the university had been popular with students from the Gulf since the establishment of a Middle East studies centre some 50 years ago, which was aimed at developing relations between the US and the Arab World.
Although there are only a few Qatari students currently studying at Portland, Hoffman estimated the number of Qatari alumni at something like 200.
As well as the fact that the school is strong in subjects such as engineering, business studies and the sciences, Hoffman pointed to the “international” atmosphere as one of the institution’s most attractive features.
LeBaron said he was aware of a number of other US universities exploring the possibilities of opening branch campuses in Qatar, and although unaware of specific details, said he would be looking forward to offering more Qatari students the chance to study at US institutions in Qatar.