caption website predecessor successor birth_place president image_size profession office birth_date term_start appointer spouse image article_title term_end name alma_mater
eric edelman , c. 2005 20080306060929 45 www.defenselink.mil douglas feith w. robert pearson derek shearer michele flournoy ross wilson bonnie mcelveen-hunter baltimore , maryland george w. bush 250px diplomat 8th ambassador to turkey united states ambassador to finland under secretary of defense for policy united states 1951 august 27 , 1998 9 , 2005 august 29 , 2003 august george w. bush bill clinton patricia d. edelman eric s. edelman 050805-a-0607l-001 . jpg eric s. edelman
 january 29 , 2001 20 , 2009 june 19 , 2005 january eric steven edelman cornell university yale university
eric s. edelman

eric steven edelman -lrb- born 1951 -rrb- is a former under secretary of defense for policy , former u.s. ambassador to turkey -lrb- 2003 -- 2005 -rrb- , former u.s. ambassador to the republic of finland -lrb- 1998 -- 2001 -rrb- , and former principal deputy assistant to the vice president for national security affairs -lrb- 2001 -- 2003 -rrb- .
a career foreign service officer , edelman entered the senior foreign service in 1992 .
he is a recipient of the secretary of defense 's award for distinguished civilian service -lrb- 1993 -rrb- and the state department 's superior honor award -lrb- 1990 and 1996 -rrb- .
he retired from the u.s. foreign service in may 2009 and is a visiting scholar at the philip merrill center for strategic studies at the paul h. nitze school of advanced international studies -lrb- sais -rrb- , and distinguished fellow at the center for strategic and budgetary assessments .
he was also an advisor for the 2012 mitt romney presidential campaign .
