Gene Cretz

Gene Allan Cretz (born 1950) is a career diplomat who retired from the Senior Foreign Service in 2015. Before retiring, he was the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana. Before this, he was the first U.S. Ambassador to Libya since 1972, after being nominated in July 2007 by President Bush. His nomination was confirmed by the US Senate on November 21, 2008. He was sworn-in as U.S. Ambassador to Libya by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on December 17, 2008, at the State Department. He arrived in Libya on December 27, 2008. Cretz speaks a number of languages, including Arabic, Dari, Urdu, and Chinese. President Barack Obama nominated him for the post to Ghana in April 2012. He was sworn-in as the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on September 11, 2012. His retirement ceremony was held at the U.S. State Department on Wednesday, July 1, 2015.

Gene Cretz previously served in key diplomatic posts in Israel, Egypt and Syria. In addition to these postings, he has also been stationed in Pakistan, India, China, and in Washington D.C. Cretz was Christopher Stevens' immediate predecessor as U.S. Ambassador to Libya. Prior to assuming his post in Libya, he was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.

Cretz was born in Albany, New York and attended Albany High School, graduating with the class of 1968. He subsequently taught there from 1977 to 1979. He received a bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Rochester and a master's degree in Linguistics and Secondary Education from Buffalo State College at Buffalo.