Sheila Gwaltney
Official portrait, 2015
United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan
In office October 14, 2015 – August 2, 2017
President	Barack Obama Donald Trump
Deputy	Alan Meltzer
Preceded by	Pamela L. Spratlen
Succeeded by	John Bernlohr (chargé d'affaires)
Personal details
Born	1954 (age 69–70) Woodland, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of California, Davis George Washington University

Sheila S. Gwaltney (born 1954)^[1][2] is a retired U.S. diplomat.

Early life and education

Gwaltney is from Woodland, California.^[3] Gwaltney earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations at the University of California, Davis, and a Master's degree at George Washington University. Gwaltney speaks Russian, Ukrainian, and Spanish.^[2]

Career

Gwaltney joined the Department of State in 1984.^[3] Her overseas assignments have included Panama, Pretoria, and St. Petersburg. At the Department of State in Washington, D.C., she has also served as Deputy Director for the Office of Russian Affairs, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and Director of Country Affairs for Eurasia.^[4] During her Foreign Service career, Gwaltney also spent one year at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University as a National Security Affairs Fellow.^[4] She has also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassies in Bishkek (1999–2001), Kyiv (2004–2007), and Moscow (2011–2014).^[5]

On August 28, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Gwaltney to be the United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan.^[3] She was confirmed by the Senate about a year later, on August 5, 2015.^[4] She retired from that post in August 2017.

Gwaltney is the recipient of several Department of State Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards.^[4]

References