Conrad Tribble grew up in Los Angeles, California and joined the Foreign Service in 1987. During his career he has focused primarily on Europe and Latin America but has also served in Iraq and in numerous leadership positions in Washington. His most recent overseas assignment took him to Havana (2012-2015), where as Deputy Chief of Mission he helped manage the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba and the reopening of the U.S. Embassy there. Returning to Washington, he served three years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Europe and the European Union, where the U.S.-Spain relationship was one of his key priorities. Most recently, he led the diplomatic tradecraft training school at the Foreign Service Institute and spent a year as a Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington.
Mr. Tribble’s previous overseas assignments include Santiago, Port-au-Prince, Baghdad, and two tours in Germany, including a year as an exchange diplomat in the German Foreign Office in Bonn and three years as Consul General in Munich. In Washington he worked on political-military and European security affairs, as a desk officer for Cyprus and Coordinator for Baltic Sea regional cooperation programs, as Senior Watch Officer in the State Department’s Operations Center, and as Director of the Department’s 24-hour Intelligence and Research Watch.
Mr. Tribble and his wife Christina Tribble, also a U.S. diplomat, have four children and a dog. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in history from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, a Master’s in international relations from the University of Southern California, and a Master’s in national security studies from the U.S. National War College. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he was an exchange student in Germany and a volunteer teacher in Honduras. A lifelong singer and amateur musician, he is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammy Association). He is also a sports junkie; he plays baseball, basketball, and soccer, and has been an FC Bayern Munich fan for forty years, though he expects his new friends in Spain will twist his arm to cheer for their teams as well. He is active on Twitter and speaks Spanish, German, French, and some Haitian Creole.