[74] MTSU professor who knew Amb. Stevens reflects on his legacy in The Tennessean

FOR RELEASE: Sept. 14, 2012

EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081, gina.logue@mtsu.edu

 

MURFREESBORO—An MTSU professor who was acquainted personally with the late Amb. Christopher Stevens says he was the kind of person who was “in his element” in diplomatic service.

 

Dr. Sean Foley, associate professor of history and a Middle East scholar, says he met Stevens in Damascus, Syria, in 2002.  He noted that they had several important things in common.

 “We were both from the San Francisco Bay Area, had studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and were committed to understanding the modern Middle East,” said Foley.

“He was a warm person, and the Libyans responded to him with warmth. It’s obvious from the photos of him that he was in his element. He was in the right place in the right time.”

Stevens, the United States ambassador to Libya, was killed along with three other Americans Tuesday when terrorists attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

To learn more, read Foley’s op-ed piece in tomorrow’s editions of The Tennessean.

 

 

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PHOTO ATTACHED: Amb. Christopher Stevens, who was killed Tuesday as gunmen laid siege to the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, visits the Café

an-Nawfra in Damascus, Syria, with Dr. Sean Foley and his then-fiancee, Kerry, in this 2002 photo. The man at the far left is unidentified.

 

 

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