Photo from US Embassy Dushanbe on Facebook
On June 19, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Kenneth E. Gross, Jr. to be Ambassador to the Republic of Tajikistan. Official bio released by the WH below:
Kenneth Gross currently serves as a Career Development Officer for senior-level officers in the Bureau of Human Resources at the Department of State. A career Senior Foreign Service Officer, he joined the Department in 1987. His previous overseas diplomatic assignments include Principal Officer at the U.S. regional office in Basrah, Iraq, Deputy Chief of Mission in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and tours in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Kathmandu, Nepal, and Frankfurt, Germany.
Mr. Gross’s Washington assignments include Director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative Office, aviation negotiator in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, and desk officer for Austria and Germany in the Bureau of European Affairs.
Mr. Gross earned a B.A. from Auburn University, a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law, and a M.S. from the National War College.
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If confirmed, Mr. Gross would succeed Tracy Ann Jacobson, a career diplomat appointed as US Ambassador to Tajikistan in 2006. Embassy Dushanbe was established Mar 13, 1992, with Edmund McWilliams as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. No political appointee has ever succeeded in getting an appointment as US Ambassador to Tajikistan.
Related Item:
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts, 6-19-09
