Ambassador Gabriel served as the 16th US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, from 1997-2001. Ambassador Gabriel has convened international forums concerning national security, environmental, trade, and energy issues, and from 1992-1995 he was involved in matters of Russian nuclear non-proliferation and uranium trading. He has written on the topics of energy as well as US policy in the Middle East and North Africa. He is currently the President of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a nonprofit organization that seeks to build greater bilateral ties between the US and Lebanon. He has served in leadership positions and on the boards of multiple nonprofit policy organizations and educational institutions focused on the Middle East and North Africa, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Amideast, the Arab American National Museum, the American Schools of Tangier and Marrakech, and Lebanese American University, among others.

Earlier in his career, Ambassador Gabriel was the founding President of the Madison Public Affairs Group, a leading public affairs company in Washington, DC, which represented private and nonprofit clients concerning domestic and international projects in the fields of defense, energy and trade. He also served as Director of Energy Policy for the Keystone Policy Center, a conflict-resolution policy organization; Executive Director of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes, an American Indian energy trade association; and as a senior economic analyst for the Department of Energy.

Ambassador Gabriel’s honors include the Order of the Ouissam Alaouite of Morocco, 2001, and the National Order of the Cedar of Lebanon, 2002. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2018 and Arab American of Year in 2012. Ambassador Gabriel holds a B.S. degree and Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Gannon University. He’s a native of Olean, NY, and lives in Washington, DC, with his wife Kathleen Linehan, a lawyer and animal rights activist.