Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Linda Thomas-Greenfield (born November 22, 1952) is an American diplomat who is the United States ambassador to the United Nations under President Joe Biden. She served as the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 2013 to 2017. Thomas-Greenfield then worked in the private sector as a senior vice president at Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington, D.C. President Biden nominated her to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and she was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 23, 2021. She took office after presenting her credentials on February 25 , 2021. Early life and education. Thomas-Greenfield was born in Baker, Louisiana. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana State University in 1974, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1975. Career. Thomas-Greenfield taught political science at Bucknell University, before joining the Foreign Service in 1982. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (2004–2006), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs (2006–2008), Ambassador to Liberia (2008–2012), and Director General of the Foreign Service and concurrently as the Director of Human Resources (2012–2013). In addition, Thomas-Greenfield  held foreign postings in Switzerland (at the United States Mission to the United Nations), Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria, and Jamaica. From 2013 to 2017, she served as the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the United States Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs. In 2017 she was terminated by the Trump administration as part of what was a "purge of senior State Department officials and career professionals over nearly four years", according to the "Los Angeles Times". Thomas-Greenfield is a non-resident fellow at Georgetown University, having been the distinguished resident fellow in African  Studies from fall 2017 to spring 2019. In November 2020, Thomas-Greenfield was named a volunteer member of President-elect Joe Biden's agency review team to support transition efforts related to the United States Department of State. , Thomas-Greenfield was on leave from a senior vice president position at Albright Stonebridge Group. On November 24 2020, Biden announced his plans to nominate her as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and to include her in his cabinet and National Security Council. She appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on January 27, 2021. U.S. Ambassador to  the United Nations. During the confirmation hearing on her nomination for U.N. ambassador, Thomas-Greenfield said she regretted giving a speech to a Beijing-backed Confucius Institute in 2019 when she was working for a private consulting firm. She largely agreed with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on international policies, raising concerns about the People's Republic of China's "malign force" and "debt traps and tactics" in Africa and beyond. In February 2021, it was reported that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was delaying a committee vote on her nomination due to her 2019 comments on the People's  Republic of China. Thomas-Greenfield has vowed to stand "against the unfair targeting of Israel" for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, saying that the movement "verges on antisemitism". Thomas-Greenfield was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 23, 2021, by a 78–20 vote. She took office after presenting her credentials on February 25, 2021. She succeeded Ambassador Kelly Craft. Beginning on March 1, 2021, the United States became president of the United Nations Security Council; thus Greenfield became president of the council as head of the United States delegation. Her term ended on March 31, 2021. Thomas-Greenfield accused  the People's Republic of China of committing genocide against Uyghurs and of detaining more than one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang internment camps. She said that the United States "will keep standing up and speaking out until China's government stops its crimes against humanity and the genocide of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang." She expressed concern over reports of escalating ethnic tensions in Ethiopia's Tigray Region and urged peaceful resolution of the Tigray War between Ethiopia's federal government and the forces of the Tigray regional government.