THOMAS-GREENFIELD
Linda

• 1. Early life and education
• 2. Career

Linda Thomas-Greenfield is an American diplomat who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the United States Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs from 2013 to 2017. She is a senior counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington, D.C. President-elect Joe Biden has announced he intends to nominate her as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and include her in the National Security Council and cabinet.

Early life and education

Thomas-Greenfield was born in Baker, Louisiana, and graduated with a bachelor of arts in 1974 from Louisiana State University. In 1975, she earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

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), Ambassador to Liberia (2008–2012), and Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources (2012–2013). In 2017 she was terminated by the Trump administration as part of a "purge of senior State Department officials and career professionals over nearly four years".

In November 2020, Thomas-Greenfield was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the United States Department of State. That month, Biden announced that he would nominate her to lead the United States Mission to the United Nations.