Ambassador Douglas A. Silliman is president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He previously served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2016-19 and U.S. ambassador to Kuwait from 2014-16. From 2013-14, he served as a senior advisor in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in the U.S. Department of State, working on Iraq issues and the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. Silliman was deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq from 2012-13, minister counselor for political affairs in Baghdad from 2011-12, and deputy chief of mission in Ankara, Turkey from 2008-11. He joined the Department of State in 1984. Silliman served as director and deputy director of the Department of State’s Office of Southern European Affairs, as political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Jordan, and as the regional officer for the Middle East in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. He worked as a political officer in Islamabad, Pakistan, in the Office of Soviet Union Affairs, as the desk officer for Lebanon, and as a staff assistant to the assistant secretary for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs. Silliman began his career as a visa officer in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and a political officer in Tunis, Tunisia. In 2018, Silliman received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award from President Donald J. Trump. He has received numerous awards from the Department of State, including the Secretary’s Award for Public Outreach in 2007 and senior performance awards. Silliman received the Sinclaire Language Award in 1993 and the W. Averell Harriman Award for outstanding junior officer in 1988 from the American Foreign Service Association. He retired from the Foreign Service in April 2019 after 35 years. Silliman received a Bachelor of Arts in political science, summa cum laude, from Baylor University in Texas, where he was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He earned a Master of Arts in international relations from the George Washington University. Silliman speaks Arabic and French. He is married and has two adult children. In addition to his position as president of AGSIW, Silliman also serves on the board of advisors of the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, which helps American businesses expand their international business and trade ties, especially in the Middle East and Gulf region. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy.

Ambassador William “Bill” Roebuck is the executive vice president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He most recently served as the deputy special envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and a senior advisor to the Special Representative for Syria Engagement Ambassador James Jeffrey. Prior to his appointment, Roebuck served as a senior advisor to Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk from January to December 2018. Roebuck served as ambassador to Bahrain from 2015-17. He was appointed deputy assistant secretary for Maghreb Affairs in January 2013 and assumed additional responsibility for Egypt Affairs in January 2014. He served as Chargé d’Affaires in Tripoli, Libya from January to June 2013, earning the Ryan C. Crocker Award for Outstanding Leadership in Expeditionary Diplomacy. From September 2010 to December 2012, he served as director for the Office of Maghreb Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Roebuck served as deputy political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from July 2009 to August 2010, covering Iraq’s external relations and leading the embassy’s and the resident international community’s efforts to support the critical March 2010 national elections. Roebuck served as the deputy office director for Arabian Peninsula Affairs from 2007-09. From 2004-07, he served as the political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. In his last year of that assignment, Roebuck served as the acting deputy chief of mission. Prior to his assignment in Syria, he covered political issues in Gaza, while assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv from 2000-03. He served in Washington as staff assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs from 1997-98. Prior to joining the State Department, Roebuck worked as an English teacher and school administrator in Taif, Saudi Arabia from 1982-87. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in Cote d’Ivoire from 1978-81. Roebuck speaks French and Arabic. He hails from Rocky Mount, North Carolina and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature from Wake Forest University in 1978 and 1981, respectively, and his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1992.

Ambassador C. David Welch is a member of the board of directors of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He has a broad range of knowledge and experience in government and business, internationally and in the United States. Welch recently retired after 10 years (2009-19) with Bechtel, a global engineering and construction firm. At Bechtel, he was a senior vice president and partner supervising international and government affairs; regional representatives in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America; the Washington, DC office; global corporate security; and internal and external corporate communications. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy. Welch also serves on corporate and nonprofit boards. Welch served 32 years (1977-2008) with the U.S. Foreign Service. He was nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate to senior positions in successive Democratic and Republican administrations. In 2008, he attained the lifetime rank, confirmed by the Senate, of Career Ambassador. When he retired from government, Welch was assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs (2005-08), the senior-most U.S. diplomat for the region. He served as ambassador to Egypt (2001-05) and assistant secretary for international organizations (1998-2001). He was also acting chief of mission in Saudi Arabia from 1992-94. Welch was on the National Security Council staff at the White House (1989-91) and also served in Pakistan, Syria, and Jordan. He was the recipient of a number of awards during his government service, including a Group Award for Valor. Welch is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

George R. Salem is a member of the board of directors of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He serves as strategic advisor with DLA Piper, where he is focused on assisting in the development of DLA Piper’s Middle East and U.S. Department of Labor practices. During the course of his 38-year career, Salem has negotiated some of the most significant settlements in the field of labor law. On behalf of various Middle East clients, Salem headed the legal teams that handled the acquisitions of major assets, including refineries in the Middle East, and has litigated major cases, including the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Sudan. Salem is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in American Politics, Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Management Labour and Employment Lawyers, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Washington Super Lawyers and Corporate Counsel Super Lawyers, and The Best Lawyers in America. He was named by The National Law Journal as one of the top 26 labor lawyers in the United States. From 1985-89 he served as solicitor of labor, the U.S. Department of Labor’s chief legal officer, where he headed a staff of 850 lawyers in 13 national offices and 16 regional and subregional offices around the country. He is the first Palestinian Arab American to have been nominated by a president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Salem played key roles in the campaigns of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and George W. Bush. He chairs the Arab American Institute, which he co-founded in 1985, is past chairman of the National Association of Arab Americans, and has served on the board of the ADC. He has been on the board of trustees of United Palestinian Appeal, Inc. since 1982, and serves as treasurer of UPA. Salem has served on the U.S. Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim World, and in 1992 received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, presented annually to Americans of diverse origins for outstanding contributions to their own ethnic groups and to American society.

Christopher J. Davis is a member of the board of directors of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. From 2006-20, Davis was a Raytheon executive leading efforts to develop Raytheon’s international markets and relationships. His most recent Raytheon assignments were president of Raytheon International Inc. from 2017-20 and the country leader/president of RII in the United Arab Emirates beginning in July 2014. As the president of RII, Davis led an organization responsible for the growth of all Raytheon markets outside of the United States. Davis has spent much of his industry and military careers abroad with three years in Japan and more than 14 years in the UAE. Davis is a retired career Marine aviator, and, before joining Raytheon, he had senior assignments working with the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce. He has a Bachelor of Science in industrial economics from Union College and a master’s degree in security studies from the Marine Corps University.