News / National
Obama appoints new US envoy for Zimbabwe
14 May 2012 at 10:41hrs | Views
United States President Barack Obama has nominated career diplomat David Bruce Wharton as ambassador to Zimbabwe to replace Charles Ray whose three-year term in Harare ends this year.
Wharton was once the head of the US Public Affairs Department in Harare a decade ago.
The White House Office of the press secretary announced at the weekend that Obama had nominated Wharton as ambassador to Zimbabwe.
The US senate needs to approve Wharton's nomination before he can head for Harare. Wharton is the current Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of African Affairs. He was appointed to that position in July 2010.
He joined the Africa Bureau in August 2009 as the Director of the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs after a two-year assignment as Deputy Coordinator of the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs.
From 2003 to 2006 he was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Guatemala. Wharton entered the Foreign Service in 1985 and has served at US Embassies in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
In Africa, he has also had temporary duty in Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. From 1992 to 1995 he worked in Washington DC on Andean Affairs and Western Hemisphere policy issues.
He has received Superior and Meritorious Honour Awards from the Department of State and the US Information Agency, and was the 2011 recipient of the Edward R Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy.
Wharton was born in Basel, Switzerland, and enjoyed a cross-cultural childhood with time spent in both Europe and Texas. He is a graduate of the University of Texas in Austin and speaks Spanish and German.
Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Wharton worked in professional theatre in the Washington DC area.
Wharton was once the head of the US Public Affairs Department in Harare a decade ago.
The White House Office of the press secretary announced at the weekend that Obama had nominated Wharton as ambassador to Zimbabwe.
The US senate needs to approve Wharton's nomination before he can head for Harare. Wharton is the current Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of African Affairs. He was appointed to that position in July 2010.
He joined the Africa Bureau in August 2009 as the Director of the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs after a two-year assignment as Deputy Coordinator of the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs.
From 2003 to 2006 he was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Guatemala. Wharton entered the Foreign Service in 1985 and has served at US Embassies in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
In Africa, he has also had temporary duty in Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. From 1992 to 1995 he worked in Washington DC on Andean Affairs and Western Hemisphere policy issues.
He has received Superior and Meritorious Honour Awards from the Department of State and the US Information Agency, and was the 2011 recipient of the Edward R Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy.
Wharton was born in Basel, Switzerland, and enjoyed a cross-cultural childhood with time spent in both Europe and Texas. He is a graduate of the University of Texas in Austin and speaks Spanish and German.
Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Wharton worked in professional theatre in the Washington DC area.
Source - newsday
