Αυτό είναι ένα από τα βιογραφικά του Αμερικανού Πάτρικ Θέρος, πρώην διπλωμάτη (και όχι μόνο), ισχυρού προστάτη και υποστηρικτή (patronus) του Θεόφιλου στα Ιεροσόλυμα

Ambassador (Ret.) Patrick Nickolas Theros

The United States Senate confirmed Patrick Nickolas Theros as Ambassador to the State of Qatar on October 19, 1995. Ambassador Theros presented his credentials to the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah al-Thani on November 12, 1995, succeeding Ambassador Kenton Keith.
The highlights of Ambassador Theros’ tenure in Qatar include the cementing of the politico-military relationship, the establishment of the largest U.S. Army prepositioning facility in the world and rapid expansion of American investment in the Qatari hydrocarbon sector. Ambassador Theros advised the Qatari Government on the establishment of American educational facilities in the country and among other accomplishments brought the first Church to Qatar. For his services, His Highness the Emir awarded Ambassador Theros the Qatar Gold Star of Merit.

Immediately before his appointment to Qatar, Ambassador Theros served as Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism, responsible for the coordination of all U.S. Government counter-terrorism activities outside the United States. Ambassador Theros joined the Foreign Service in 1963 and, prior to being appointed Ambassador to the State of Qatar in 1995, served in a variety of positions including Political Advisor to the Commander in Chief, Central Command; Deputy Chief of Mission and Political Officer in Amman; Charge d'affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in Abu Dhabi; and Economic and Commercial Counselor in Damascus. He also has served in diplomatic positions in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Nicaragua as well as in the Department of State.

In 1992 Ambassador Theros was awarded the President's Meritorious Service Award for career officials and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. He also earned four Superior Honor Awards over the course of his career. In 1990, he was accorded the personal rank of Minister Counselor.

Upon retiring from the Foreign Service in December 1998, Ambassador Theros assumed a position as Direct or for International Projects of Capital Investment Management Corporation, a McLean, Virginia investment firm. In March 2000 Ambassador Patrick Nickolas Theros assumed office as the President and Executive Director of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council after a 35-year career in the United States Foreign Service. Under his direction the U.S. Qatar Business Council has become one of the most active and successful such organizations in the United States. The Council works to enhance and cement the relationship between the United States and Qatar, providing advice and counsel to its members as well as to leadership figures in both countries.

In January, 2003, Ambassador Theros founded the consulting firm, Theros & Theros, LLP of Washington, D.C. which now represents firms doing business in the Middle East and Eastern
Europe. As its first and most successful venture, Theros & Theros undertook the representation of Dr. Ayad Allawi shortly after the liberation of Iraq. In no small measure as a result of our efforts, the American Government appointed Dr. Allawi as free Iraq’s first Prime Minister. Since then Theros & Theros has represented a variety of prestigious international firms in and from the US, the UK, Greece, the UAE and Qatar. Our client list includes BAE Systems, Crescent Petroleum (UAE), B.F. Goodrich, and many others.

Ambassador Theros holds a number of awards and positions, in addition to his professional work. In September 1999 the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Diodoros I, appointed Ambassador Theros as his representative in the United States and conferred on him the rank of Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. In this capacity, Ambassador Theros successfully lobbied the Government of Israel to reverse its ill-considered refusal to recognize the canonically elected Patriarch Theophilos III, in December 2007. In February 2003, Ambassador Theros became a member of the Board of Advisors of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. In March 2003, Ambassador Theros was elected to the Council on Foreign Relations. In May 2003, Ambassador Theros was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Freedom. In October 2004, Ambassador Theros was elected an Archon of the Order of St. Andrew of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In July 2007, Ambassador Theros was appointed a founding member of the Board of Qatar Foundation USA continuing his close association with one of most important institutions in Qatar. The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, to give it its full name, is a private, chartered, nonprofit organization, founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar. Guided by the principle that a nation's greatest resource is the potential of its people, Qatar Foundation aims to develop that potential through a network of centers devoted to progressive education, research and community welfare. Ambassador Theros has played a key role in furthering the objectives of the Foundation, including but not limited to, the recruitment of prestigious American Universities to open branch campuses in Doha’s Education City. Ambassador Theros has also played an important role in Qatar Foundation’s establishment of a number of other educational, cultural, social and health institutions that have made Qatar the Middle East’s leader in all those fields. Qatar Foundation USA intends to continue this work in the United States, cementing an already close relationship between these two countries.

Ambassador Theros was born in 1941 in Ann Arbor, Michigan and attended public schools in Michigan, Ohio, and the District of Columbia. He graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1963 and has done advanced study at the American University in Washington, DC, the Universidad Centroamericana in Managua. Ambassador Theros has also completed the Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia, and was appointed a research fellow at the National Defense University. He is fluent in Spanish, Arabic, and Greek. Ambassador Theros is married to the former Aspasia Pahigiannis. They have one son and two daughters.

Πηγή: seamark-usa.com