Ambassador Ross Wilson arrived in Kabul January 18, 2020, as the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Over the course of four decades as a U.S. diplomat, he has served as ambassador to Azerbaijan from 2000-2003 and to Turkey from 2005-2008, and he held later assignments as chargé d’affaires in Turkey in 2014 and the Republic of Georgia from 2018‑2019. Elsewhere overseas, Ambassador Wilson served at the U.S. embassies in Moscow and Prague and was consul general in Melbourne, Australia. He was principal deputy to the ambassador-at-large and special advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State for the new independent states of the former Soviet Union in 1997-2000. He also served as deputy executive secretary of the U.S. State Department for Secretaries Jim Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger, and Warren Christopher; chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick; chief U.S. negotiator for the Free Trade Area of the Americas; and worked in State Department offices dealing with the USSR and Egypt.

From 2010 to 2014, Ambassador Wilson was director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, where he led Council work on Turkey, the former Soviet states, and regional energy, economic, and political issues and integration, and organized its annual Energy and Economic Summits in Istanbul. In addition, he has been a visiting lecturer in international affairs at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and served on the boards of Global Minnesota and the Institute of Turkish Studies and on advisory councils of other non-profit organizations active in international affairs.

Ambassador Wilson received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and master’s degrees from Columbia University and the U.S. National War College. He is a recipient of the U.S. President’s Meritorious Service Award, as well as numerous U.S. Department of State awards and honors. He holds memberships in the Academy of American Diplomacy; the American Foreign Service Association, Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired; the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs; and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He is married to Margo Squire, also a veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service.

Dr. Mohammad Humayon Qayoumi is President Emeritus of San Jose State University and Chief Adviser for President Ghani in the areas of infrastructure, human capital, and technology. Prior to this he served as 28th president and a professor of electrical engineering at San José State University in the heart of Silicon Valley, in California. Before that he was the President of California State University East Bay. He holds a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from the American University of Beirut and four graduate degrees from the University of Cincinnati: a master’s in nuclear engineering, a master’s in electrical and computer engineering, an MBA in Finance, and a doctorate in electrical engineering. He has also published eight books and more than 100 articles, as well as several chapters in various books. He is a licensed professional engineer and a certified management accountant.

Dr. Qayoumi has over 40 years of engineering and administrative experience in several universities. He served as an engineer on a variety of projects in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia including two years as the project electrical engineer in building the Umm Al Nar Power Plant in 1970’s. He has made presentations at numerous conferences across the United States and in 12 other countries.

A senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), Dr. Qayoumi served as a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award examiner and senior examiner from 2000 to 2003. He also was senior examiner for the Missouri Quality Program from 1997 to 2000. Dr. Qayoumi is an APPA Fellow and the recipient of two APPA Meritorious Awards, APPA President Award in addition to NACUBO’s Distinguished Business Officer Award. He served in several board of directors including KQED, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, The Bay Area Council, The Bay Area Council Economic Institute, and Joint Venture Silicon Valley. In addition, he serves chair of cybersecurity for the U.S Department of Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council. A senior fellow with California Council on Science and Technology (CCST), he was inducted to Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame in 2015.

Dr Faizullah Kakar is an Afghan epidemiologist and public leader, serving since June 2019 as the Chief of Staff to President Ashraf Ghani of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Three years earlier in 2016, Dr. Kakar was appointed as the Afghan Ambassador to Doha, Qatar where he worked closely with the government to support efforts for peace in Afghanistan. Dr. Kakar has also served as the Deputy Minister of Public Health in two different time periods – 1993-1995 and 2005-2009. He has also been the Afghan Minister for advising the President on Health and Education from 2009-2016 and was the first Presidential Focal Point for Polio Eradication.

Dr Kakar has written and spoken internationally about numerous challenges faced in Afghanistan, including infectious disease epidemics, maternal mortality and the dangers of herbicides used to eradicate poppy.

After his doctorate in Epidemiology, he worked as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Washington and as a Staff Scientist at Cancer Control Research Unit of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.

In 1988, he moved to Peshawar, Pakistan where he founded the Research and Advisory Council of Afghanistan. In 1990, Dr Kakar served as Dean for the College of Medicine, then Vice-Chancellor before serving as Chancellor of Islamic University of Afghanistan in Peshawar, Pakistan. At the University, he developed a course in Conflict Resolution which provided a useful and needed skill to each of the graduates before they returned to Afghanistan.

In 1997, Dr Kakar moved to Islamabad, Pakistan where he was selected by United Nations as the Medical Officer/Epidemiologist for World Health Organization (WHO). Dr Kakar was the first to develop and coin the term "Disease Early Warning System" (DEWS) in Pakistan, which is a surveillance system implemented also in Afghanistan and recognized now throughout the world and has been copied in many countries.

Dr Kakar has a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Washington, a Masters in Toxicology from the University of Indiana, and a Bachelors in Biology and Social Sciences from Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, all colleges in the USA.

Mr. Sanzar Kakar is the Chairman of Afghanistan Holding Group, a professional services firm in Afghanistan employing over 300 employees serving 700 international clients for over a decade. Mr. Kakar graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science Engineering and from Warwick Business School with a Masters in Business Administration. He first worked for Merrill Lynch as a Technology Analyst, creating a link for automatic reporting to the New York Stock Exchange. He started in Afghanistan as an Investment Associate for Acap Partners, setting up a $20 million venture capital facility and sourcing over 300 new opportunities for consideration. Mr. Kakar then joined as the Executive Advisor to the Attorney General’s Office of Afghanistan on a U.S. Department of State program to reorganize the institution and set up a national paper and computer criminal case management system spanning 7 justice institutions.

Since 2009, Afghanistan Holding Group has provided professional business services to over 700 organizations across Afghanistan. Clients range from small companies, non-profits, and corporations to development institutions and government customers. Over 300 employees support clients step-by-step, providing assistance with licensing, visas, payroll, taxation, audit and procurement services. This powerful combination of education, experience and qualification uniquely places AHG to provide the highest level of service with unparalleled integrity, efficiency and accountability.

Mr. Kakar speaks English, Pashtu and Dari.