Michael Craig Lemmon (born 1946) is an American retired diplomat and soldier.

Michael Craig Lemmon
United States Ambassador to Armenia
In office
September 21, 1998 – October 1, 2001
Preceded byPeter Tomsen
Succeeded byJohn M. Ordway
Personal details
Born
Michael Craig Lemmon

1946 (age 77–78)
Alma materUniversity of Virginia
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army

Biography

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Lemmon was born in 1946.[1] He would serve for four years in the U.S. army; later he would begin working towards an undergraduate degree at Old Dominion University. He would ultimately complete his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Virginia before beginning to work for the foreign service in 1974.[2][3][4]

Lemmon would serve many roles in the State Department over the course his career, including director of regional affairs in the South Asia Bureau and serving as political and military affairs officer in the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan.[3][5] In 1998 he would become the United States' Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia, a position he held until 2001.[1][6][7] During his time there he would participate in events such as the inauguration of the Armenian Card (ArCa) national debit system.[8]

Lemmon would also take a role in the Foreign Service Institute, acting as Dean of the School of Language Studies.[3][9][10][11] One of his notable stances as a scholar of language studies, is his advocacy on behalf of establishing foreign languages as part of a national language education policy.[12]

In April 2012, Lemmon spoke at an event for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the 2009 Turkey-Armenia Protocols. During this event, he stressed the progress the protocols represented and related his hopes for future Track II efforts.[13]

In June 2020, Lemmon was one of 612 former officials to sign an open letter calling for police reform and criticizing calls to use the military to handle the George Floyd protests.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Michael Craig Lemmon - People - Department History - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  2. ^ "PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES MICHAEL C. LEMMON AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA". clintonwhitehouse6.archives.gov. Press Secretary of the White House. April 27, 1998. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  3. ^ a b c "Former Ambassador to Deliver 10th Annual Vardanants Day Armenian Lecture". News from the Library of Congress. 27 March 2002.
  4. ^ State Magazine. U.S. Department of State. 1998.
  5. ^ Strategic Studies. Institute of Strategic Studies. 1984.
  6. ^ "PN1060 - Nomination of Michael Craig Lemmon for Department of State, 105th Congress (1997-1998)". www.congress.gov. 1998-06-26. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  7. ^ Mirror-Spectator, The Armenian (2020-04-29). "Appreciation: Ambassador Shougarian's Deep Impression on US, Armenia". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  8. ^ Armenia Financial Laws and Regulations Handbook. International Business Publications, USA. 2009-03-20. ISBN 978-1-4387-0274-2.
  9. ^ Federal Yellow Book. Vol. 57. Washington Monitor, Incorporated. 2005.
  10. ^ Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security. Committee for Economic Development Research and Policy. 2006. ISBN 978-0-87186-180-1.
  11. ^ "World Leaders Establish Plan of Action for U.S. Language Policy". Foreign Language Annals. 38 (1): 133. March 2005. doi:10.1111/j.1944-9720.2005.tb02465.x.
  12. ^ Schmidt, Richard (December 2008). "National Language Education Policy or a National Language Education Framework? Summary of a Discussion Group". The Modern Language Journal. 92 (4): 621–623. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00790_2.x. JSTOR 25173106.
  13. ^ Waal, David Phillips, Amb Michael Lemmon, Thomas de; Waal, David Phillips, Amb Michael Lemmon, Thomas de. "Diplomatic History: The Turkey-Armenia Protocols". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 2021-05-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Silliman, Douglas A.; McCarthy, Deborah A.; Countryman, Thomas (2020-06-15). "The Strength of America's Apolitical Military: A Statement by Former U.S. Ambassadors, Military Officers, and Senior Officials". Just Security. Retrieved 2021-05-27.