J. Christopher Stevens
Career diplomat, lawyer, and Arabist who served as U.S. envoy to Libya's revolutionary council and then as ambassador; killed in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
Service Record
| Born | April 18, 1960, Grass Valley, California |
|---|---|
| Education | Piedmont High School, 1978; B.A., History, University of California, Berkeley, 1982; J.D., UC Hastings College of Law, 1989; M.S., National War College, 2010 |
| Peace Corps | English teacher, Morocco, 1983 – 1985 |
| Entered Foreign Service | 1991 |
| Overseas posts | Jerusalem (deputy principal officer, political section chief); Damascus (political officer); Cairo (consular and political officer); Riyadh (consular and economic officer) |
| Washington assignments | Director, Office of Multilateral Nuclear and Security Affairs; Pearson Fellow, Senate Foreign Relations Committee; special assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs; Iran desk officer; staff assistant, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs |
| Deputy Chief of Mission, Libya | 2007 – 2009 |
| Special Representative to the National Transitional Council | March – November 2011 |
| U.S. Ambassador to Libya | May 2012 – September 11, 2012 |
| Died | September 12, 2012, Benghazi, Libya, age 52 |
Overview
Chris Stevens spent nearly his entire adult life in the Arab world, first as a Peace Corps teacher and then as one of the Foreign Service's most respected Near East hands. He was the eighth U.S. ambassador to be killed while in office, and the most recent.
Early Life and Education
He was born in Grass Valley, California, the eldest of three children, and raised in Northern California. His father was a California assistant attorney general and his mother a cellist with the Marin Symphony. He spent the summer of 1977 as an exchange student in Spain, graduated from Piedmont High School in 1978, and earned a degree in history at Berkeley in 1982. He went on to a law degree from UC Hastings in 1989 and was admitted to the California bar the following year.
The Peace Corps
From 1983 to 1985 he taught English as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. The experience shaped the rest of his life. He came home fluent in the region's rhythms and determined to work there.
A Career in the Near East
He joined the Foreign Service in 1991. His overseas assignments ran through the heart of the region: Jerusalem, where he served as deputy principal officer and chief of the political section; Damascus; Cairo; and Riyadh. Between postings he worked in Washington as the Iran desk officer, as a staff assistant in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, as special assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, and as a Pearson Fellow with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also directed the Department's Office of Multilateral Nuclear and Security Affairs and, in 2010, completed a master's degree at the National War College.
Libya
He served as deputy chief of mission in Tripoli from 2007 to 2009. When the Libyan revolution broke out in 2011, he was sent back as the United States' Special Representative to the National Transitional Council, working from Benghazi from March to November while the war's outcome was still in doubt. He was named ambassador in 2012 and arrived in Tripoli that May.
Sacrifice
On the night of September 11, 2012, the U.S. Special Mission in Benghazi was attacked and set on fire. Ambassador Stevens was inside the main building with Information Management Officer Sean Smith and a security officer. He was separated from those who escaped, was found after midnight by local civilians and taken to the Benghazi Medical Centre, and was pronounced dead in the early hours of September 12 from smoke inhalation. Sean Smith and two security personnel, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, were also killed.
Legacy
He is buried in his hometown of Grass Valley. Colleagues remember him as the model of an expeditionary diplomat: someone who believed the work had to be done in person, on the ground, among the people it was meant to serve.
Recognition
Envoys of Record honors J. Christopher Stevens among the members of the Foreign Service who gave their lives in the service of the United States. Their names are kept here so that their service is not forgotten.