Lisa Peterson
Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights
Acting
In office
January 20, 2021 – July 14, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byEric Ueland
Succeeded byUzra Zeya
United States Ambassador to Eswatini
In office
February 5, 2016 – December 1, 2020
PresidentBarack Obama
Donald Trump
Preceded byMakila James
Succeeded byJeanne Maloney
Personal details
Born1964 (age 59–60)
EducationUniversity of Rochester (BA)

Lisa J. Peterson (born 1964)[1] is an American diplomat and the former United States Ambassador to Eswatini.[2] She was nominated by President Barack Obama on September 16, 2015, and confirmed by the Senate on Nov. 19, 2015.[3][4] She left her post on December 1, 2020. Between January 20 and July 14, 2021, she served in the Biden administration as the Acting Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights in 2021.[5]

Peterson is currently the nominee to be the next US Ambassador to Burundi.[6]

Early life and education

Peterson is a 1986 graduate of the University of Rochester, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

Career

After college graduation Peterson accepted a position at the University of Rochester's Carlson Mathematics and Sciences Library. In 1988 she joined the University's Department of Chemistry.

In 1989 Peterson joined the Foreign Service. She served in the embassy in the Central African Republic, and after two years accepted a two-year assignment as vice consul at the U.S. Consulate General in South Africa.

Peterson then returned to the U.S. an analyst for Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. In 1996 she began a series of international assignments to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Lusaka, Zambia, and Nairobi, Kenya.

In 2006 Peterson returned to the U.S. as deputy director of the Office of Central African Affairs in the Bureau of African Affairs.

In 2007 she returned to Africa as the cultural officer in Abuja, Nigeria. Two years later she became deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Ambassador to Eswatini

Peterson participates in a virtual roundtable with Xinjiang Internment Camp Survivors and Advocates in July 2021.

When she was nominated on November 16, 2015 [7] to become United States Ambassador to Swaziland (now Eswatini), she was Director of the Office of Multilateral and Global Affairs in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, a position she had held since 2012.[8]

Ambassador to Burundi

On April 5, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Peterson to be the next ambassador to Burundi.[6] Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 21, 2023. Her nomination was favorably reported by the committee on July 13, 2023. It is currently pending before the full United States Senate.[9]

Personal

Peterson is married to Siza Ntshakala, a fellow State Department employee. They have a son.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Lisa J. Peterson (1964–)
  2. ↑ https://www.state.gov/biographies/lisa-peterson/
  3. ↑ U.S. Ambassador to Swaziland: Who Is Lisa J. Peterson? AllGov, January 25, 2016
  4. ↑ Obama Reshuffles US Ambassadors, Here Is The New Ambassador To Uganda Uganda Online News, September 16, 2015
  5. ↑ "Lisa Peterson".
  6. 1 2 "President Biden Announces Intent to Nominate Key Role for the Department of State". The White House. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  7. ↑ Latest White House Nominations Political Appointee Project, accessed May 10, 2016
  8. ↑ Peterson, Lisa J. - Kingdom of Swaziland - November 2015 U.S. Department of State, November 2015
  9. ↑ "PN498 — Lisa Peterson — Department of State 118th Congress (2023-2024)". US Congress. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Testimony of Lisa Peterson Ambassador Designate to the Kingdom of Swaziland U.S. Senate, November 3, 2015
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