Philippe Noël Marie Marc Étienne is a French career diplomat and teacher born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris. He attended the École normale supérieure starting in 1974, earning an agrégation in mathematics, and graduated from the École nationale d'administration (ENA) in 1980 (promotion Voltaire), alongside François Hollande and Michel Sapin. Étienne began his diplomatic career as secrétaire des affaires étrangères in 1980, holding positions in Moscow, Belgrade, Bucharest, and Bonn. Key roles include Ambassador to Romania (2002-2005), Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs (2007-2009), Permanent Representative of France to the European Union (2009-2014), Ambassador to Germany (2014-2017), Chief diplomatic adviser (Sherpa) to President Emmanuel Macron (2017-2019), Ambassador to the United States (2019-2023), and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.