On February 4, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden appointed Tim Lenderking as US Special Envoy for Yemen. Mr. Lenderking previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs in the Near East Bureau at the U.S. Department of State. He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Mr. Lenderking served previously as the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d' Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2013-2016. He served as the Director of the Pakistan Office at the Department of State from 2010-2013. From 2008-2010, Mr. Lenderking completed two tours in Baghdad, the first as the Senior Democracy Advisor at the US Embassy, and the second as the Policy Advisor to the Commanding General of Multi-National Forces Iraq (MNF-I), based at Camp Victory. Before his Iraq tours, Mr. Lenderking served as the Economic Counselor and Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at US Embassy Kuwait. He was also the Political Counselor at Embassy Rabat from 2002-2006. Mr. Lenderking’s other tours in the Foreign Service include serving as the Special Assistant to Under Secretary for Political Affairs 2001-2002, as the Lebanon Desk Officer 2000-2001, and as a Watch Officer in the Operations Center. Mr. Lenderking also served in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and in Damascus, Syria. Mr. Lenderking joined the Foreign Service in 1993 after a career in the refugee field, where he held numerous positions with American NGOs and with the United Nations in New York, Sudan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Thailand. Mr. Lenderking received a Master’s Degree in History and International Relations from the University of Washington in 1989 and a Bachelor’s Degree with Honors from Wesleyan University in 1985. He is the recipient of the Presidential Merit Award, nine Superior Honor Awards from the Department of State, and the Meritorious Civilian Service Award from the Department of the Army for his service in Iraq.