Ambassador John S. MacGregor

John MacGregor, a native of Vancouver and Canadian former naval officer with 33 years of service in uniform, took up his current post of Head, OSCE Centre in Ashgabat on 1 May 2021. Prior to this, he served as Head, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan from 2016 to 2021. Previously, he served as Deputy Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek from 2013, including one month with the Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine in 2015, and spent two years as acting Deputy Head (with six years total service) at the OSCE Office in Baku.

MacGregor is married, with two children and two grandchildren. He speaks French and is able to deliver speeches in Azerbaijani, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Turkmen languages.

Having served more than three years, MacGregor is the longest serving Canadian Head of Field Operation in the history of the OSCE. In connection with the National Day observances in 2019, he was personally awarded the State Order of Do’stlik by the President of Uzbekistan. Additionally, he is a 2020 recipient of the OSCE’s Gender Champion Award in the Leadership category.