Officially In: Linda Thomas-Greenfield -- from Liberia to DGHR

On January 23, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the next Director General of the Foreign Service. The WH released the following brief bio:

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Minister Counselor and currently serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, a position she has held since August 2008.  Previously, she was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau for African Affairs from 2006 to 2008, and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration from 2004 to 2006.  Other assignments have included overseas postings in Nigeria, The Gambia, Kenya, Jamaica, Pakistan, and Switzerland.  From 1991 to 1993, she served as a Staff Assistant in the Office of the Director General of the Foreign Service.  Prior to joining the Department of State, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield taught Political Science at Bucknell University. 

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield received a B.A. from Louisiana State University and an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin.

Secretary Clinton with Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield during the
Embassy Monrovia Dedication January 16 and 17, 2012
Photo from US Embassy Liberia

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield  started her Foreign Service career in 1982 as a Consular Officer at US Embassy Jamaica.  She was the 2000 recipient of the Warren Christopher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Affairs in recognition of her work with refugees. Her embassy bio says that she is a Louisiana native with a reputation for her culinary prowess. She is married to a retired Foreign Service Officer and has two grown children.

If confirmed, she would succeed Nancy Powell who was nominated last December as the next ambassador to New Delhi.



Related items:
January 23, 2012 | President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

March 26, 1995 | American in Africa | The Washington Post

Officially In: Tracey Ann Jacobson -- from FSI to Kosovo

                    Image via WikipediaOn January 23, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Tracey Ann Jacobson as the next Ambassador to the Republic of Kosovo. The WH released the following brief bio:

Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI).  Prior to joining FSI, she served as U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan (2006-2009) and U.S. Ambassador to Turkmenistan (2003-2006).  Previously, she was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Riga, Latvia.  Prior to her assignment in Riga, Ambassador Jacobson served as Deputy Executive Secretary at the National Security Council.  Other assignments have included overseas postings in Seoul, Korea; Nassau, Bahamas; and Moscow, Russia.  Ambassador Jacobson’s Washington assignments have included service in State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Office of the Under Secretary for Management.

Ambassador Jacobson received a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. from John Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

If confirmed, this would be Ambassador Jacobson's third ambassadorial appointment; she would only be the third chief of mission assigned to the US Embassy in Pristina. She will succeed career diplomat, Christopher Dell who was appointed to post in May 2009.


Related item:
January 23, 2012 | President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

Officially In: Scott H. DeLisi -- from Nepal to Uganda

          Image via WikipediaOn January 23, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Scott H. DeLisi as the next Ambassador to the Republic of Uganda. The WH released the  following brief bio:

Ambassador Scott H. DeLisi is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and is currently U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, a position he has held since March 2010.  Prior to his assignment in Nepal, Ambassador DeLisi was the Director of Career Development and Assignments in the State Department's Bureau of Human Resources.  During his 30 year career in the Foreign Service, Ambassador DeLisi has served as Ambassador to the State of Eritrea and as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Gaborone, Botswana.  He has also served as Director for Entry Level Programs in the Bureau of Human Resources, Director for Southern African Affairs, and Chief of the Political Section in Sri Lanka.  His other postings include assignments in Pakistan, Madagascar, and India. 

Ambassador DeLisi received his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Minnesota.

If confirmed, this would be Ambassador DeLisi's third ambassadorial appointment.  He will succeed career diplomat, Jerry P. Lanier who was appointed chief of mission at the US Embassy in Kampala in 2009. The US Embassy in Kampala was closed in 1973 and was re-established on Jun 18, 1979, with David Halstead as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. No political appointee has succeeded in getting an appointment as US Ambassador to Kampala since then.


Related item:
January 23, 2012 | President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

Storify: Ambassador Bryza's Rocky Road to Baku and Back

Officially In: Robert E. Whitehead to Lome

Image via WikipediaPresident Obama announced in October his intent to nominate Robert E. Whitehead to be Ambassador to the Togolese Republic.

The WH released the following brief bio:

Robert E. Whitehead, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, has served at the Department of State for 27 years.  From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Whitehead served as the Chargé d'Affaires in Khartoum, Sudan.  Other overseas assignments have included Deputy Chief of Mission in the Central African Republic, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  Additionally, Whitehead served briefly as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim in Rwanda in 1994 and as the first consul general in Juba, Southern Sudan in 2006.   His assignments in Washington have included Director of the Office of African Analysis in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Senior Inspector in the Office of the Inspector General, and Desk Officer in the Office of West African Affairs.  Before entering the Foreign Service, he was a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Zaire. 

Mr. Whitehead received a B.A. from Taylor University and an M.A. from Southern Illinois University.

If confirmed, Mr. Whitehead would succeed career diplomat, Patricia McMahon Hawkins who was appointed to the US Embassy in Lome in 2008.

Although we note that Mr. Whitehead had not served in the AIP posts (Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan), he was Consul General in Juba, Southern Sudan in 2006. That's followed by another assignment in Khartoum, Sudan from 2009-2011.  Both posts are designated 25% danger post, and 25% hardship post. Cost of living in Juba and Khartoum is also high that both posts receives 25% COLA differential.  Prior to Sudan, he was in the Central African Republic and Zimbabwe, both 30% hardship posts. 


Related item:
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts | Oct 17, 2011

Related articles

• Sahel Blog: Have US sanctions against Sudan lost their bite? (csmonitor.com)
• Sudan halts South Sudan oil shipment (telegraph.co.uk)
• Sudan, South Sudan Waging Proxy War in Khartoum and Juba (time.com)
• Sudan troops seize key rebel town (bbc.co.uk)
• In Crumbling Sudan: Dodging Bombers with the Rebels of Blue Nile (time.com)

Officially In: Sharon “Shari” Villarosa to Port Louis and The Seychelles

Image via WikipediaIn October, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Sharon “Shari” Villarosa, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Mauritius and the Republic of Seychelles.

The WH released the following brief bio:

Sharon “Shari” Villarosa, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as Deputy Coordinator for Regional Affairs in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State.   From 2005 to 2008, she served as the Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon.  Previously, Ms. Villarosa served as Director of Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore Affairs in the Department of State’s East Asia and Pacific Bureau; Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta; and Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Dili.   Other overseas assignments have included: Songkhla, Thailand; Brasilia, Brazil; Quito, Ecuador; and Bogota, Colombia. 

Ms. Villarosa holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. from William and Mary School of Law.

If confirmed, Ms. Villarosa would succeed career diplomat, Mary Jo Wills who was appointed to the US Embassy Mauritius in 2009, confirmed by the Senate in December 2009, and  presented her credentials to President of the Republic on February 19, 2010. Traditionally, the assignment of career diplomats after tenure including that of the ambassador is for three years.

We note that Ms. Villarosa had not served in any of the AIP posts but did serve a three-year tour in Burma in 2005, which has a 30% hardship and 20 % cost of living differential. She also served as Charge in Timor-Liste, a 25% differential post for hardship and cost of living. Here is the OIG review during her tenure at US Embassy Rangoon.




Related item:
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts | Oct 13, 2011

Officially In: Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley to Valletta*

Image via WikipediaPresident Obama recently announced his intent to nominate Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley to be Ambassador to the Republic of Malta.

The WH released the following brief bio:

Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as Deputy Coordinator for Policy, Programs, and Budget in the Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism. Prior to this role, she was Director of the Office of Egypt and the Levant in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.  Her previous positions include: Chairwoman for Middle East Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Senior Advisor for Middle Eastern Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Director for Near East South Asian Affairs, and Director for Legislative Affairs at the National Security Council.  Her earlier posts include: Political Officer at the Embassy in Tel Aviv with responsibility for the Gaza Strip, Consul in Baghdad, and postings in Jakarta and Cairo.  She joined the Foreign Service in 1985 after serving as a Presidential Management Fellow at the United States Information Agency.

Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley received a B.A. from George Washington University and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University.

If confirmed, Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley, a career diplomat would succeed political appointee, Douglas Kmiec who resigned in August this year as US ambassador to Malta. We haven't had a career diplomat assigned to the US embassy in Valletta since 1985 when Gary L. Matthews was appointed chief of mission by President Ronald Reagan. 

We note that Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley had spent most of her recent assignments in the domestic offices of the State Department.  Except for a stint as Consul General in Jeddah (presumably a three-year tour see update below), and earlier assignments overseas, her bio indicates that she spent the last several years in the offices of CT, NEA, FSI, USUN, NSC. As far as I can tell, all those offices are not overseas. And really, except for USUN in New York where rental rates are awful (and Jeddah), would anyone call any of those assignment a hardship?  But Malta is an island, with only a few thousand folks; and if State takes away its R&Rs, it'll definitely be a hardship assignment.

Update: Not sure how long was the Jeddah assignment and how long ago was the assignment there but see the comment from one of our readers.  I stand corrected.  Note that Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is currently a 15% danger post, a 20% hardship post, and a 15% cost of living differential.



*Note: In honor of Mr. Dorschner who recently wrote about "a rule is a rule," Diplopundit will start monitoring the prior gigs of ambassadorial nominees, particularly those of our career diplomats. We heard that FSOs cannot get promoted without hardships assignments which seems to mean, right now, the war zone destinations of Iraq and Afghanistan (Pakistan, too).

Related item:
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts | Oct 17, 2011