Manuel Sager
Manuel Sager was born in 1955 and grew up in Baden, Switzerland. He graduated from the Law Faculty of the University of Zurich with a doctorate degree and from Duke University Law School, USA, with a "Master of Laws and Letters" (LL.M.). After his admission to the Arizona bar, he worked as an attorney in a law firm in Phoenix from 1986 to 1988. In 1988, he joined the diplomatic service of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Following his diplomatic training he was assigned to the Directorate of International Law from 1990 to 1995, specializing in International Humanitarian Law. From 1995 to 1999 he was Deputy Consul General in New York and from 1999 to 2001 Head of Communications at the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C. From 2002 to 2005 he served as Head of Communications at the FDFA and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, respectively. From 2005 to 2008, Sager was Executive Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. From 2008 to 2010, he headed the FDFA's Division for Sectoral Policies. From 2010 to August 2014, he was Swiss Ambassador to the United States of America. From November 2014 to April 2020, Sager served as Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Since his retirement from government service in June 2020, Sager has continued to teach on the topic of Development Finance at various universities in the U.S. and Switzerland and has served on boards of non-profit organizations and academic institutions in both countries.