A native of Indianapolis, Frank C. Urbancic, Jr. has served as the US Ambassador to Cyprus since August 14, 2008. He holds a BA in French Literature from New York University (1974), an MA in Byzantine History from City College of New York (1978) and an MS in National Security Strategy from the National Defense University in Washington, DC (1993). Urbancic speaks French, Arabic and Turkish.

 

Urbancic served as Deputy Chief of Mission at US embassies in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Freetown (Sierra Leone) and Doha (Qatar). In Freetown, he developed and implemented policy to map a new course for US relations with the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) after the coup in 1992, while managing the evacuation of American citizens. In addition, he has served in consular and political affairs sections in Québec City (Canada), Amman (Jordan), Tunis (Tunisia) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). He was also Deputy Director of the Office of Egyptian Affairs in 1995.

 

As US Consul General in Istanbul, Turkey, Urbancic administered the assistance program when the country suffered a devastating earthquake in 1999.

 

Urbancic has also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy to the Coordinator in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism. As such, he was responsible for managing and overseeing all aspects of counterterrorism activities.

 

As Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Kuwait from 2002-2004, Urbancic coordinated US priorities with the host government and managed the bilateral relationship during the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003.

 

Urbancic specialized in East European, Middle Eastern and African affairs at the US Mission to the United Nations in 1990-1991 and 2004-2005.

 

Frank C. Urbancic Jr.'s Official Biography