Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba was appointed by the board of directors on December 10, 2014 to serve as the first president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Prior to her appointment as president, Wahba led DerMar International, LLC, a consulting firm focused on assisting American businesses seeking to establish or expand their presence in the Middle East. Consulting assignments included PineBridge Investments, Booz Allen Hamilton, the Department of Defense, and Northrop Grumman.

Wahba retired from the U.S. Department of State in May 2008, class of Minister Counselor, after a 22-year career spent mostly in the Middle East. Wahba was confirmed as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates in October 2001. She received the White House Presidential Meritorious Service Award for her service in the UAE and was decorated with the UAE’s Order of Independence. Her Washington assignments included serving at the Pentagon as the foreign affairs advisor to the chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and as the deputy at the National War College of the National Defense University at Fort McNair.

Wahba graduated from Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a minor in international relations. She received a Diploma in National Security from the National War College, National Defense University, Washington, DC in June 2006.

Wahba is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves on the board of CIEE, and is on the board of advisors to the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce.