Nicholas Alexander Veliotes (born October 28, 1928 in Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

) is a former United States Foreign Service Officer

Foreign Service Officer

A Foreign Service Officer is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. As diplomats, Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic...

 and diplomat. He served as United States Ambassador to Jordan

United States Ambassador to Jordan

The following is a chief of mission from the United States to Jordan.The first chief of mission, Gerald A. Drew held the title of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. The second chief of mission, Joseph C...

 (1978-81) and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 (1984-86). He is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy

American Academy of Diplomacy

The American Academy of Diplomacy is a private, non-profit, non-partisan, elected organization whose active membership is limited to men and women who have held positions of high responsibility in crafting and implementing American foreign policy...

 and Council on Foreign Relations

Council on Foreign Relations

The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...

.

Early life

Veliotes was born in Oakland, California, on October 28, 1928, the younger brother of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

r Johnny Otis

Johnny Otis

Johnny Otis is an American singer, musician, talent scout, disc jockey, composer, arranger, recording artist, record producer, vibraphonist, drummer, percussionist, bandleader, and impresario.He is commonly referred to as The Godfather Of Rhythm And Blues.-Personal life:Otis, the son of Alexander...

. He served in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1948 and then went on to graduate from the University of California (B.A., 1952; M.A., 1954) where he played football and rugby. He later married Patricia Nolan, and they had two children together, Michael and Christopher.

Diplomatic career

Veliotes joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1955. He served as consular officer in Naples in 1955-57 and economic officer in Rome in 1957-60 before returning to the U.S. to work in the Secretariat and then in the Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs from 1962 to 1964. He then served as political officer New Delhi (1964-66) and Vientiane (1966-69) before being selected as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Princeton University in 1969.

Ambassador Veliotes was Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State (1970-73), then served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Tel Aviv, returning to the Department of State as Deputy Director of the Policy Planning Staff (1976-77) and then Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (1977-78). He was Ambassador to Jordan (1978-81) and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (1981-84). He then served as Ambassador to Egypt until his retirement from the Foreign Service in April, 1986.

Post-Foreign Service career

In May, 1986, Veliotes became President

President

A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 of the Association of American Publishers

Association of American Publishers

The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP has more than 300 members, including most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly...

 and retired as President Emeritus in June, 1997. He is also a member of the Middle East Institute

Middle East Institute

The Middle East Institute is a non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, DC. Founded in 1946, MEI is the oldest institution in Washington dedicated exclusively to the study of the Middle East. Its founder, architect and philanthropist George Camp Keiser, assembled a team of...

, Foundation for Middle East Peace

Foundation for Middle East Peace

The Foundation for Middle East Peace is an American nonprofit organization that promotes peace between Israel and Palestinians via the two-state solution. The organization was established in 1979 by Merle Thorpe, Jr. Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox, Jr...

, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars

Veterans of Foreign Wars

The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization in the United States. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW currently has 1.5 million members belonging to 7,644 posts, and is the largest American organization of combat...

. Veliotes has received the Glen T. Seaborg Award (the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award for former Cal football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 alumni), the B'nai Brith "Faith of Our Fathers" Award for contributions to peace in the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

, a number of Presidential and Departmental Honor Awards, and also the "Chevalier del Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" Award from the French Government for outstanding services to international

International

----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...

 publishers. He currently serves on the boards of Amideast

Amideast

AMIDEAST is a U.S. non-profit organization that works to strengthen mutual understanding and cooperation between Americans and the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa...

 and the American Academy of Diplomacy

American Academy of Diplomacy

The American Academy of Diplomacy is a private, non-profit, non-partisan, elected organization whose active membership is limited to men and women who have held positions of high responsibility in crafting and implementing American foreign policy...

, as well as Chairman for the Hollings Center

Hollings Center

The Hollings Center is a tax exempt, non-profit organization founded in 2004, through Congress appropriations bills by Senators Ernest F. Hollings and Judd Gregg...

 for International Dialogue.

Service chronology

Nicholas A. Veliotes' Diplomatic Chronology

Position	Host country or organization	Year
US Foreign Service	Naples Naples Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples... , Rome Rome Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...	1955 to 1957
US Foreign Service	Rome Rome Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half... , Rome Rome Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...	1957 to 1959
US Foreign Service	New Delhi New Delhi New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is... , India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...	1964 to 1966
US Foreign Service	Vientiane Vientiane -Geography:Vientiane is situated on a bend of the Mekong river, which forms the border with Thailand at this point.-Climate:Vientiane features a tropical wet and dry climate with a distinct monsoon season and a dry season. Vientiane’s dry season spans from November through March. April marks the... , Laos Laos Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...	1966 to 1969
US Foreign Service	Tel Aviv Tel Aviv Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with... , Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...	1973 to 1976
U.S. Ambassador Ambassadors from the United States This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to individual nations of the world, to international organizations, to past nations, and ambassadors-at-large.Ambassadors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate...	Amman Amman Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost... , Jordan Jordan Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...	1978 to 1981
US Foreign Service	U.S.A., Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs	1981 to 1984
U.S. Ambassador Ambassadors from the United States This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to individual nations of the world, to international organizations, to past nations, and ambassadors-at-large.Ambassadors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate...	Cairo Cairo Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life... , Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...	1984 to 1986