Jeffrey Prescott


Jeffrey Prescott is an American attorney who had served the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. He previously served as the deputy to the United States ambassador to the United Nations in the Biden administration.

Education

Prescott holds a BA degree from Boston University and a JD from Yale Law School.

Career

After completing law school, Prescott clerked for Judge Walter King Stapleton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He was also a staff attorney at the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights. Prescott then relocated to Beijing, where he was a visiting professor at Peking University School of Transnational Law and became the founding director of the China Law Center's branch office.
Prescott previously served as an advisor to the United States National Security Council on policy related to Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the Persian Gulf. He was also deputy national security advisor and senior Asia advisor for then Vice President Joe Biden. Since leaving the Obama administration, Prescott became the executive director of National Security Action and a senior fellow at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

FAO Nomination

On June 2, 2023, Biden nominated Prescott to be the U.S. ambassador to the UN Agency for Food and Agriculture. On February 8, 2024, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote. He presented his credentials to FAO Director General Qu Dongyu on April 3, 2024.

Publications

Articles

  • Praise for the Suleimani Strike Isn't Based in Reality, Foreign Policy, January 13, 2020
  • Trump Doesn't Deserve Any Credit for His Disruptive Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, March 14, 2019
  • Will Trump Scuttle the Success of Retaking Mosul? Foreign Policy, March 20, 2017

    Personal life

Prescott is married to Susan Jakes. They have two daughters, Amalia and Phoebe.