After nearly four years of serving in the Philippines, Ambassador of the United State (US) to the Philippines Kristie A. Kenney will end her tour of duty in the country. Ambassador Kenney announced that her successor, veteran diplomat Harry K. Thomas Jr., has been appointed by US President Barack H.Obama.

Ambassador Kenney has left an indelible imprint as one of the most cordial, warm, and outgoing diplomats in the country. Appointed by President George W. Bush as Ambassador to the Philippines on November 3, 2005, Ambassador Kenney arrived in the country on March 17, 2006. A senior member of the US Foreign Service, she had served as the US Ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador from September 25, 2002, to July 6, 2005. As US Ambassador to Ecuador, she supervised nearly 50 US government employees and managed an assistance budget of more than $7 million. Prior to that, she spent nine months as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.

Earlier, in 1998, she served as Executive Secretary of the State Department for three years, the first woman to hold that key position. In that capacity, she headed a staff of 185 persons responsible for inter-agency policy coordination and crisis management, working for Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and later for Secretary Colin Powell.

Ambassador Kenney’s overseas postings also include being Economic Counselor at the United States Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, Economic Officer at the US Embassy in Argentina, and Consular Officer at the US Embassy in Jamaica. Her Washington assignments include Director of the State Department Operations Center, a detail to the White House as a member of the National Security Council staff, and Political-Military Officer in the Office of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Affairs. She holds a master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Tulane University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Clemson University. She also attended the National War College. She speaks Spanish and French.

With her departure from the country, we share the sentiments of many who have worked and interacted with Ambassador Kristie Kenney, that her presence will be surely missed, be it in the missions she had led in Mindanao, in the celebrations of important bilateral events, and even in the collegiate basketball games that she attended.

We wish Her Excellency, US Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, all the best as she moves on to face new challenges in her career.

Bon Voyage!