Lucy Tamlyn

Lucy Tamlyn is a diplomat and United States Ambassador to Benin. She was nominated by President Obama on March 24, 2015 and confirmed by the Senate October 8, 2015. Her term began October 23, 2015 and she presented her credentials on November 8, 2015.^[1]

Early life and education

Tamlyn is from New York City. Her father, Thomas Tamlyn, was a cardiologist who served in 1969 on the SS Hope, a ship that brought medical support to underserved areas. Her mother, Ann Donaldson Tamlyn,^[2] later ran unsuccessfully for Congress from Maryland.

Tamlyn was an undergraduate at St. John’s College Annapolis, Maryland. She graduated in 1978. Tamlyn then completed her M.A. at Columbia University’s School of International Affairs in 1980.^[3]

Career

Tamlyn joined the Foreign Service in 1982. In her early career she held assignments in Austria, Colombia, and Mozambique. She served as a political officer in Brazil and represented the U.S. to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome.^[4] From 2005 to 2008 Tamlyn served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in N’Djamena, Chad. She then became Provincial Reconstruction Team Leader in Erbil, Iraq from 2008 to 2009. She served in Lisbon, Portugal,as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy.^[5]

Just prior to her nomination as ambassador she was Director of the Office of the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan.^[6]

Personal life

Tamlyn is married to author Jorge M. Serpa of Portugal, and they have two children. In addition to English, she speaks French and Portuguese.

See also

• List of ambassadors of the United States

References