Robert Dillon | |
|---|---|
 Dillon in 1982 | |
| United States Ambassador to Lebanon | |
| In office June 26, 1981 – October 11, 1983 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | John Gunther Dean |
| Succeeded by | Reginald Bartholomew |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 7, 1929 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Caroline Sue Dillon (m. 1951; died 2013); Nancy Boardman Eddy (m. 2020) |
| Alma mater | Duke University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1947–1948 |
Robert Sherwood Dillon (born January 7, 1929) was the United States Ambassador to Lebanon from 1981 to 1983.[1] He was born in 1929 in Chicago and attended Duke University, graduating in 1951.
Dillon served in the US army for eighteen months before being discharged and continuing his education at Duke University.[2] After receiving his B.A. in English Literature in 1951, he served as a CIA intelligence officer with Chinese Nationalist irregular forces. Following his time in the CIA, he joined the Foreign Service. Dillon spent more than 30 years in the Foreign Service with assignments including Venezuela, Turkey, Malaysia, Egypt, Lebanon. He served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Malaysia, Turkey and Egypt and oversaw the negotiations and security of hostages during The Kuala Lumpur Hostage Crisis.[3] Dillon served as US Ambassador to Lebanon for two years, surviving the 1983 United States embassy bombing, before retiring from the foreign service in 1983 with the rank of Career Minister.[2]
After his time in the Foreign Service, Dillon joined the United Nations as Assistant Secretary General and later served for five years as Deputy Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. In 1988, Dillon became President and CEO of the non-profit, America-Mideast Education and Training Services, Inc., which he left in 1995. From 1994-1995, Dillon worked for the UN as Special Humanitarian Envoy for Rwanda and Burundi. After which he worked as for six months with the Department of State.[4] Dillon currently resides in Arlington, Virginia and has authored a memoir and biography of his father, Dale Crowell Dillon.[5]
- ^ "U.S. Ambassador Accepts Job With U.N." Gadsden Times. AP. 21 September 1983. p. A2. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
- ^ a b "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR ROBERT S. DILLON" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 17 May 1990. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Terror on the 9th Floor — the Kuala Lumpur Hostage Crisis".
- ^ "The American Academy of Diplomacy - Pezzullo". Archived from the original on 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2014-12-14.
- ^ "Robert Sherwood Dillon".