A former U.S. Ambassador to Oman and an expert in Middle East policy will give a public lecture Thursday at Troy University as part of the school’s Ambassador-in-Residence program.

Dr. David Dunford’s five-day visit to the area began Monday and includes meetings and lectures on the Troy, Montgomery and Dothan campuses. Dunford is here to share practical knowledge of Middle East political, economic and social development.

He is a 29-year member of the U.S. Foreign Service, served three years as U.S. Ambassador to Oman, and was Deputy Ambassador to Saudi Arabia for four years during the Gulf War.

“Dr. Dunford will be a perfect fit for Troy. Our students will have a chance to meet a world class scholar with deep knowledge of Middle East affairs who also has plenty of real world work experience,” said Dr. Jonathan Harrington, director of the Master of Science in International Relations program. “We’re delighted that he will also have time to get to know our campuses and explore in depth how the classroom and campus relate to the broader society.”

In addition to his service as a U.S. Ambassador, Dunford has also worked for a in Iraq in 2003 as the senior official in charge of reorganizing Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His other assignments included Economic Minister-Counselor in Cairo, Director of Egyptian Affairs in Washington, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President, and Coordinator of the multinational team tasked with setting up MENABANK, a proposed regional multilateral development bank in Cairo. He is also former chairman and active board member of AIPT, a non-profit organization specializing in international exchanges.

Dunford is the fifth Ambassador-in-Residence fellow hosted by Troy University’s Department of Political Science through the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows Program.

He currently teaches courses on the Arab-Israeli Conflict and the Middle East Business Environment at the University of Arizona and consults for government and the private sector on Middle East Issues.

Dunford’s public lecture will be at 4 p.m. in the Hawkins Hall Auditorium.