Dana Shell Smith

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Dana Smith

| image = Dana Shell Smith.jpg

| office = United States Ambassador to Qatar

| president = Barack Obama
Donald Trump

| term_start = August 8, 2014

| term_end = June 20, 2017

| predecessor = Susan L. Ziadeh

| successor = William K. Grant

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1970}}

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse = Ray Smith

| alma_mater = University of California, San Diego

| relations = Jeff Shell (brother)

}}

Dana Shell Smith (born 1970) is a former American diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer who served as the United States Ambassador to Qatar from July 2014 to June 2017.{{Cite news |url=https://nypost.com/2017/06/13/us-ambassador-to-qatar-steps-down-amid-gulf-crisis/ |title=US ambassador to Qatar steps down amid Gulf crisis |last=Steinbuch |first=Yaron |date=June 13, 2017 |work=New York Post |access-date=June 13, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/smith-dana-shell |title=Dana Shell Smith (1970–) |website=history.state.gov |publisher=U.S. Dept. of State |access-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620011725/https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/smith-dana-shell |archive-date=June 20, 2018 |url-status=live }} She was confirmed by the Senate as the U.S. Ambassador to Qatar on July 10, 2014.{{cite web| title = Dana Shell Smith| url = https://www.congress.gov/nomination/113th-congress/1647| publisher = congress.gov| access-date = April 23, 2015}} Previously, she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs from 2011 to 2014 and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Media.{{cite web| title = Chief of Mission Biography at U.S. Embassy Doha| url = http://qatar.usembassy.gov/about-us/chief-of-mission.html| publisher = United States Embassy in Qatar| access-date = April 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430163924/http://qatar.usembassy.gov/about-us/chief-of-mission.html |archive-date=April 30, 2016 |url-status=usurped}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/12/03/368242011/american-couple-detained-in-qatar-allowed-to-return-home |title=American Couple Detained In Qatar Allowed To Return Home |last=Sanders |first=Sam |date=December 3, 2014 |work=National Public Radio |access-date=April 23, 2015}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/world/middleeast/qatar-matthew-grace-huang-return-home.html |title=Exonerated in Qatar, American Couple Head Home |last=Gladstone |first=Rick |date=December 3, 2014 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 23, 2015}}{{cite web| title = US exports to Qatar crossed $5bn in 2014| url = http://www.qatarisbooming.com/article/us-exports-qatar-crossed-5bn-2014| publisher = qatarisbooming.com| access-date = April 23, 2015| archive-date = June 20, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180620074232/http://www.qatarisbooming.com/article/us-exports-qatar-crossed-5bn-2014| url-status = dead}}

Early life and education

In 1992, she graduated from the University of California at San Diego with a bachelor's degree in political science and Middle East studies.

Career

On May 1, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Smith to be the U.S. ambassador to Qatar. Smith was confirmed by the Senate as the U.S. ambassador to Qatar on July 10, 2014. She presented her credentials to Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on September 8, 2014.

Previously, she served as principal deputy assistant secretary of public affairs from 2011 to 2014 and as deputy assistant secretary for international media.{{cite web| title = Why is the State Department Tweeting in Arabic? A Conversation with Dana Shell Smith| url = http://jilliancyork.com/2011/03/21/why-is-the-state-department-tweeting-in-arabic-a-conversation-with-dana-shell-smith/| publisher = jilliancyork.com| author= Jillian C. York| date = 22 January 2012| author-link= Jillian York| access-date = April 23, 2015}}

On June 13, 2017, Smith announced that she would be resigning her post later that month.{{cite news|title=U.S. Ambassador to Qatar Steps Down|url=http://www.muslimglobal.com/2017/06/us-ambassador-to-qatar-steps-down.html|access-date=14 June 2017|publisher=Muslim Global}} State Department records indicate June 20, 2017 as her official date of departure from service. Since leaving government service, she has been highly critical of the changes in the State Department under the Trump administration, describing the situation as a "disaster waiting to happen".{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/us/politics/state-department-tillerson.html|author=Gardiner Harris |title=Diplomats Sound the Alarm as They Are Pushed Out in Droves|newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 24, 2017 |access-date=November 25, 2017 }}

Prior to her assignments in the Bureau of Public Affairs, Smith was the State Department's Regional Arabic Language Spokesperson in Dubai. She served in a number of positions including as Senior Advisor to the Director General and overseas tours of duty in Taipei (as Chief of the Public Affairs Section and Spokesperson, American Institute in Taiwan),{{Cite web |title=Dana Shell Smith Assumes Duties as New AIT Public Affairs Section Chief |url=https://web-archive-2017.ait.org.tw/en/pressrelease-pr0433.html |date=2004-06-25 |publisher=American Institute in Taiwan |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190413022402/https://web-archive-2017.ait.org.tw/en/pressrelease-pr0433.html |archive-date=2019-04-13 |access-date=2019-04-13 |url-status=live }} Amman, Tel Aviv/Gaza, and Cairo.{{cite web| title = U.S. Ambassador to Qatar: Who Is Dana Shell Smith?| url = http://www.allgov.com/news/appointments-and-resignations/us-ambassador-to-qatar-who-is-dana-shell-smith-140630?news=853545| publisher = allgov.com| access-date = April 23, 2015}}

In November 2020, Smith was named a member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the U.S. Agency for Global Media.{{cite web |title=Agency Review Teams |url=https://buildbackbetter.com/the-transition/agency-review-teams/ |website=President-Elect Joe Biden |access-date=10 November 2020 |archive-date=28 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828180800/https://www.whitehouse.gov/ |url-status=dead }}

Smith is a member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee.{{Cite web |title=Defense Policy Board |url=https://policy.defense.gov/OUSDP-Offices/Defense-Policy-Board/ |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=policy.defense.gov}}

Personal life

Smith speaks Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Hebrew. She is married to Diplomatic Security Officer Ray Smith and they have two children. Her brother is Jeff Shell the former CEO of Comcast.{{Cite news|first=Ryan |last=Torok |title=Moving and shaking: AFMDA Humanitarian Award, Tour de Summer Camps and more|newspaper=Jewish Journal|date=October 29, 2015 |url=https://jewishjournal.com/tag/dina-and-fred-leeds/ }}

Publications

"[https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/how-to-have-an-insanely-demanding-job-and-2-happy-children/259006/ How to Have an Insanely Demanding Job and 2 Happy Children]". The Atlantic, June 27, 2012.
"[https://www.americanambassadors.org/publications/ambassadors-review/spring-2015/us-qatar-relations-realizing-the-full-potential-of-a-growing-strategic-partnership US-Qatar Relations: Realizing the Full Potential of a Growing Strategic Partnership]". The Ambassadors Review, Spring 2015.