Born in New York, Gregory B. Starr has had a career with the U.S. State Department spanning nearly three decades. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in forensic science, both from George Washington University.

 

Starr started at the State Department in June 1980, when he joined up as a special agent. He has held regional security officer positions in Kinshasa, Zaire; Tunis, Tunisia and Dakar, Senegal, and has been assigned to the secretary of state’s detail, technical security operations and the New York Field Office.

 

Between 1995 and 1997, he worked as division chief for worldwide local guard and residential security programs. He then began a three-year stint as senior regional security officer at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel.

 

In 2000, Starr became director of the Office of Physical Security Programs, staying on for four years. In July 2004, he began a nearly three-year period of service as deputy assistant secretary of state for countermeasures. He was responsible for devising security policy in that role.

 

In April 2007, Starr was named principal deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and director of the bureau’s Diplomatic Security Service. Seven months later, he started serving as acting assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security.

 

Accord Tightens Control of Security Contractors in Iraq (by Eric Schmitt and Paul von Zielbauer, New York Times)