Nov. 2, 2007

Ambassador Extends Diplomacy to MPA Students at Lyceum Presentation

By Jennifer Lloyd

Ambassador Gregory Engle strengthened diplomatic ties with the McCombs School when he spoke to accounting students as part of the Fall 2007 Lyceum Speakers Series Oct. 24.  

Engle told riveting stories from his Foreign Service career and advocated future accountants to consider using their skills for the U.S. Department of State.  

After working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea, Engle joined the Foreign Service and served in Pakistan, Germany, Washington, Ethiopia and Cyprus. Before finishing his tour as Ambassador to the African nation of Togo, Engle was appointment to a 13-month assignment as management counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.

Financing Diplomacy

While working in various posts as a management officer, Engle said he learned the importance of spending wisely and squeezing the most out of a budget.  

“You’ve got to be good at spending money,” said Engle, who is now a diplomat-in-residence at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. “You’ve got to understand public finance. A lot of what you are studying right now, in the accounting areas and financial areas, other people are scared of.”  

Engle said adept financial skills can lead to career advancement in the field of Foreign Service. In addition to successfully crunching budgets, Engle had to combat financial fraud.  

In one example, Engle uncovered a currency-exchange scandal which totaled about $500,000 within two weeks of taking a post in Ethiopia. The embassy’s Ethiopian employees were exchanging local currency for dollars and then using those dollars in the black market.  

“You have to know the financial systems and have the courage to [make the unpopular decision],” said Engle.

(Continued below.)

Diplomatic Duties

Engle said another major challenge for diplomats is arranging presidential visits. Engle had to deal with two presidential visits during his career. The first was when President Ronald Reagan visited Germany and the second was a visit by President Bill Clinton to South Africa.
 
“If you’re lucky, you’re never in the path of a presidential visit,” said Engle. “It’s like a circus.”
 
For Clinton’s visit to South Africa, Engle  had to arrange for 800 hotel rooms in Cape Town and Johannesburg in order to provide quarters for the presidential entourage. Engle described the experience as “absolutely hair-raising.”
 
By the time the State Department posted Engle in Baghdad, he had attained the title of ambassador which allowed him some of the privileges a general would have, such as helicopter flights into the fortified Green Zone.
 
“You throw the word 'ambassador' in there and you will see soldiers stand up fast,” said Engle to the audience of rapt accounting students. “Nobody really knows what it means, but it sounds sexy as hell.”

 

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