Philo Dibble

Dibble was born on September 10, 1951, in Alexandria, Egypt.[1][2] He was named for his father, Philo Tolman Dibble, who was also a diplomat.[1][2]

Dibble attended the Sidwell Friends School and graduated from the Woodrow Wilson High School.[2] He graduated from St. John's College in 1976.[1][2] He went to graduate school at Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a master's degree in international studies in 1980.[1][2]

Dibble joined the United States Foreign Service in 1980.[1][2] He served as a diplomat in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Pakistan, Syria and Lebanon. He served in Lebanon shortly after the 1983 United States embassy bombing.[1] He was retired from 2006 to 2010.[2]

Dibble returned to the Foreign Service in September 2010, when he was appointed as the deputy assistant secretary of state for Iran for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.[2] Dibble was instrumental in the release, in September 2011, of two American hikers who had been held in Iran for two years.[2] Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal were released from Iranian capture after two years in September 2011. Dibble, along with a team of U.S. Department of State officials negotiated their release. He used his connections with diplomats from Oman and Switzerland to secure their release.[1]

Dibble was married to Elizabeth Dibble, née Elizabeth Link.[1] They had three daughters.[2] They resided in McLean, Virginia.[2]

Dibble died of a heart attack on October 1, 2011, aged 60.[1][2] His funeral, held at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, was attended by hundreds of people, including U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.[1][3]