Ambassador (ret.) Matthew Bryza completed a 23-year career as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in 2012, culminating as Ambassador to Azerbaijan.
Earlier, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (2005-2009) and Director on the National Security Council Staff at the White House (2001-2005) for U.S. relations with Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus, as well as Eurasian energy security.
During 1998 to 2001, Ambassador Bryza was the Deputy Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Caspian Basin Energy Security.
He also served in the U.S. Missions to Russia (1995-1997) and Poland (1989-1991).
Bryza is a frequent commentator on media outlets that include CNN International, Al Jazeera, BBC, Fox News, Financial Times, Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg, as well as numerous outlets in Turkey, Poland, and the South Caucasus.
He is the recipient of Estonia’s Cross of Terra Mariana and Georgia’s Order of St. George.
Bryza currently resides in Istanbul, Turkey, where he heads the regional office of Ballard Partners, a major US public affairs firm. He also serves on the Board of Turcas, a publicly traded company in fuel distribution and power generation in Turkey. Concurrently, he is CEO of Lamor Turkey, a Turkish-Finnish joint venture in environmental solutions. He also serves on the Board of Nobel Upstream, an oil exploration and production company based in London, and is the founder and CEO of Eurasian Business Diplomacy, a strategic consultancy.
Additionally, Bryza is a Board Member of the Jamestown Foundation. He was Director of the International Center for Defense and Security in Tallinn, Estonia, during 2012-2015, where he founded the Center’s energy and cyber security programs.
Ambassador Bryza received his bachelor’s degree in international relations from Stanford University (with honors) and his master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.