Spokane native will likely serve as ambassador to Iraq

Spokane native Ryan Crocker is expected to be part of a top diplomatic shift President Bush is making in Iraq. Crocker, the current ambassador to Pakistan, is likely to take over as the new ambassador to Baghdad, several news services have reported.

Crocker, 57, was born in Spokane but because of his dad’s Air Force career the family lived in several different countries during his youth.

His mother, Carol, lives in south Spokane.

Between stays in Morocco and Canada, Crocker attended McDonald and University elementary schools in the Central Valley School District.

Kelly Shea, the current principal at McDonald, says the school plans to acknowledge the significance of Crocker’s accomplishment on its reader board and will use his appointment as a teaching opportunity.

“The key for us is the teaching piece. What does an ambassador do? Where is Iraq?” said Shea.

“There’s only one person in the world with this job. This is a way to let our children know that kids from McDonald Elementary can achieve greatness in life if that’s what they set out to do.”

When Crocker was appointed ambassador to Lebanon in 1990 he was sent a photo of the McDonald Elementary staff and students in front of the school’s reader board, congratulating him on his appointment.

Crocker followed up with a handwritten note that read in part, “Your kind gesture reminds me that the Spokane Valley will always be home. I keep the photograph of all those smiling faces at hand – it really is marvelous diplomatic support.”

Crocker joined the U.S. Foreign Service after graduating from Whitman College in 1971.

He served as the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait in 1994 and Syria in 1998 and had embassy assignments in Iran, Qatar, Iraq and Egypt.

Crocker’s awards include the Presidential Distinguished Service Award and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service. In 2004 Bush made him a career ambassador, the highest Foreign Service rank.