Emily Georgette Sfeir

Emily Georgette Sfeir
Born	1988 (age 37–38) Chicago metropolitan area, Illinois, U.S.
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Rank	Officer
Education	United States Military Academy

Emily Georgette Sfeir is an U.S. Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Early life and education

Emily Georgette Sfeir was born in 1987 in the Chicago metropolitan area to Dr. Jorge Sfeir, a gynecologist/obstetrician and Jenny Eyzaguirre de Sfeir, a housewife, Bolivian immigrants to the United States. She has two brothers and three sisters. Sfeir attended early primary school in Wilmette, Illinois, and late primary school and high school at the American Cooperative School of La Paz in La Paz, Bolivia. During her teenager years, she was a Bolivian junior triathlon champion.

Eight-year-old Emily Georgette Sfeir presents First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton with a bouquet of roses freshly picked from her mother's garden in La Paz, Bolivia on December 3, 1996; photo by Ralph Alswang Jr. courtesy of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library

On December 3, 1996, as an eight-year-old third grader, she attended a reception for First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton given by the American community of the city of La Paz, during the First Lady's visit to the city to attend the Sixth Summit of First Ladies of the Americas. After the First Lady spoke, Sfeir approached the First Lady with a bouquet of roses she had hand picked from her mother's garden earlier in the day, presenting the bouquet to the First Lady, who graciously accepted it. White House photographer Ralph Alswang, Jr. (son of Ralph Alswang) immortalized the moment with an impromptu snapshot.

Military career

Sfeir graduated in 2009 from the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. While a cadet at West Point, she gave a eulogy for squad leader Andrew Neal Caldwell, who died in a climbing accident on Pike's Peak; Sfeir competed on the cycling and triathlon teams. She has served as an officer in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. Three of her siblings and her father are also veterans of armed forces of the United States. As of January 2026, Sfeir is a Major in the United States Army.

Athletic pursuits

Sfeir competed in the United States Triathlon Association's 25-29 Age-Group National Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 10, 2013.

Humanitarian activity

Sfeir was a participant in Project Task Force Pineapple and Project Argo, which sought to help Afghans who had served with the U.S. Army as battlefield translators escape Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August to December 2021. She was instrumental in extracting several Afghan translators and their families by giving assistance in obtaining travel permits and raising funds.