Ambassador Flake recently served as the United States Ambassador to The Republic of Türkiye. Prior to his ambassadorial service, Ambassador Flake represented Arizona in the United States Senate from 2013 to 2019. He also represented Arizona in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013.

Before entering Congress, Ambassador Flake served as Executive Director of the Goldwater Institute in Arizona, and he directed the Foundation for Democracy in Namibia during that nation’s transition to independence. Ambassador Flake holds a BA degree in International Relations and an MA degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University.

Ambassador Flake has guest lectured at Stanford, Princeton and Yale, and he was a Resident Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. Ambassador Flake delivered the 2018 commencement address at Harvard Law School, and is a frequent guest on the Sunday morning political talk shows.

Ambassador Flake currently serves as the Director of the Institute of Politics (IOP) at Arizona State University, and as Chairman of the Board of World Trade Center Utah.

He also serves as a visiting fellow at Brigham Young University.

In January of 2025, Ambassador Flake was knighted by the Swedish Government, receiving the “Royal Order of the Polar Star” for his pivotal role in securing Sweden’s accession to NATO while serving as Ambassador to Türkiye.

He is the author of the New York Times best seller Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle.

Ambassador Flake and his wife, Cheryl, are the parents of five grown children.

For the past 25 years, Jerry has been Chairman of The Lodestar Foundation. Lodestar’s mission is to encourage people to become more philanthropic and nonprofits to collaborate and adopt other business practices. Lodestar’s Arizona projects include the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation, the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Center for Constitutional Design (all at ASU) and the Lodestar Day Resource Center (at the Human Services Campus). Beyond its work in Arizona and throughout the U.S., Lodestar has been actively involved in philanthropy development projects in Asia and Europe and has been instrumental in the development of the Social Venture Partner Global Network and the Ashoka Partner Network (in Europe and Asia). Jerry was recognized in 2010 by Barron’s Magazine as one of the world’s 25 most effective philanthropists.

Beyond Lodestar, Jerry has been an adviser to organizations promoting peace and/or stability in the world and is involved in leadership of several organizations promoting peace in the Middle East.

Jerry holds a BA from Temple University and a JD (magna cum laude) from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at ASU. Previously, Jerry practiced law and was an entrepreneur in the computer/aerospace industry, the tourist industry and commercial real estate development.