Ambassador (ret.) Marcelle M. Wahba
Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba is president emeritus & distinguished fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (AGSIW). She also directs DerMar International LLC, a business advisory consultancy. Wahba served as the founding president of AGSIW from December 2014 until June 2019. Prior to her appointment as president, Wahba led a small team to establish the organization from the bottom up. This included recruiting board directors, hiring staff, establishing policies and procedures while creating the organizational culture & capacity to provide rigorous analysis of current and long-term trends in the geo-strategic region of the Gulf Arab countries. Ambassador Wahba was appointed to serve on AGSIW’s Board of Directors in October 2019.
Wahba established DerMar International, LLC, in 2008, a consulting firm focused on assisting American businesses seeking to establish or expand their presence in the Middle East. Her expert knowledge of the business culture and wide network of influential contacts throughout the region allows her to successfully promote American business firms in the region. Advisory assignments have included 4 years as the Senior Adviser at AIG Asset Management/PineBridge Investments where she succeeded in raising significant investments and establishing the firm’s ME operations.
Ambassador Wahba’s 22 year diplomatic career was spent mostly in the Middle East. As Ambassador to the UAE shortly after the events of 9/11, she led & negotiated counterterrorism & anti-terrorist financing initiatives; launched the 1st US-UAE Strategic Partnership, the first US-UAE Joint Military Commission & successfully negotiated the US-UAE Trade and Investment Agreement. During her assignment she facilitated over $6.5 Billion in US sales to the UAE. 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.
Wahba served as Counselor and Spokesperson at US Embassies in Nicosia, Amman & Cairo. Washington assignments included Foreign Policy Adviser to the US Air Force Chief of Staff at the Pentagon and as the Deputy Commandant & US Department of State representative at the National War College of the National Defense University in Washington DC.
Wahba is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on numerous boards providing oversight and advice to non-profit organizations including the boards of the Center for International Education and Academic Exchanges (CIEE); School of Policy and International Affairs at the University of Maine; American Near East Refugee Agency; and the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce of Houston.
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, in Washington, DC. Wahba was born in Cairo, Egypt and immigrated with her family to the United States when she was a young child. She is a fluent Arabic speaker.
Wahba is married to Derek M. Farwagi and lives in Washington D.C.
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