Gordon Gray III

Gordon Gray III (born 1956) is the Kuwait Professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Affairs at George Washington University. He was previously a professor of practice at Penn State's School of International Affairs. He is a retired United States Foreign Service Officer and former career member of the Senior Foreign Service who attained the rank of minister-counselor. He joined the faculty of the National War College in July 2012 and held the positions of deputy commandant and international affairs advisor from June 2014 to June 2015. He was the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia, having been sworn in on August 20, 2009, after his appointment to the position by President Barack Obama, and served until July 5, 2012.

He retired from the Foreign Service in June 2015. In July 2015, he joined the National U.S.–Arab Chamber of Commerce as the organization's executive vice president, serving in that capacity until August 2017. He served as the chief operating officer of the Center for American Progress, a research and advocacy institute in Washington, DC, from September 2017 until October 2021.  

Gray is also a non-resident fellow of Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, which in 2017 published his case study on Tunisia and the start of the Arab Spring. Gray's other writings have been published by Time, Newsweek, The National Interest, The Journal of Diplomacy, Just Security, Manara Magazine,The Arab Weekly, Foreign Service Journal, The Hill, and translated into French by Leaders, a Tunisian magazine.

Gray serves on the Board of Directors of AMIDEAST and the Tunisian-American Young Professionals Association as well as on the advisory council of the Middle East Institute's North Africa and Sahel program.