President-Elect Joe Biden on Monday tapped Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Thomas-Greenfield, who was born in Baker and graduated from LSU, joined the foreign service in 1982. Until she was fired in 2017 by President Trump, one of dozens of experienced diplomats removed by his administration, she served in numerous positions under Republican and Democrat presidents.
Among the jobs Thomas-Greenfield held were: Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (2004–2006), Ambassador to Liberia (2008–2012), and Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources (2012–2013). She was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs for four years. Since she left the State Department, she's been a senior counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, a consulting firm headed by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
In an in-depth story about her, our media partners at The Advocate report that the job she's been chosen for, as the U.S.’s representative to the world body, is one of the highest profile posts in American government. Her predecessors include Adlai Stevenson, George H.W. Bush, and Madeleine Albright.
Unlike most of her predecessors, Thomas-Greenfield has 35-years of service in the U.S. Foreign Service, including assignments in Jamaica, Nigeria, The Gambia, Kenya, Pakistan, Switzerland, and Liberia, the Advocate reports.
To read their whole story, click here.
