Jeffrey D. Levine

Jeffrey D. Levine (born 1955) was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to be the United States Ambassador to Estonia on February 17, 2012 and was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 29, 2012. He left his post in 2015.

Early life and education Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, he holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from California State University, Humboldt and a master's degree in Resource Strategy from the National Defense University in Washington D.C.

In addition to his assignment in Hungary, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Sofia, Bulgaria and has also been posted to Brasilia, Brazil; Nicosia, Cyprus; Alexandria, Egypt; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Lima, Peru.

Levine is a member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor. At the time of his nomination, he had been the State Department's director of Recruitment, Examination and Employment since September 2010.

Levine has received numerous Department of State awards as well as the Golden Laurel Medal, presented by the Government of Bulgaria.

Personal life Jeff Levine is married to Janie L. Keeler and has a son, Nick.

Levine has studied Spanish, Portuguese, Bulgarian and Hungarian and is currently taking Estonian lessons.