Butenis, Patricia Agatha, 1953-

Patricia Agatha Butenis (born 1953) is an American diplomat. In 2014 she retired with the rank of Career Minister.

Born in New Jersey in 1953, she grew up in Atco, New Jersey, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts degree in international relations from Columbia University. Butenis joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1980.

She served as Vice Consul in Karachi, Pakistan from 1980-1982, Vice Consul/Political Officer in San Salvador, El Salvador from 1982-1985, and Consul in New Delhi, India from 1985-1988. From 1988 to 1990, she was an El Salvador Desk Officer and Consul (American Citizen Services Chief) in Bogotá, Colombia from 1990-1993. In 1993, she attended the National War College for a year. Following that, she served at the Visa Office, Field Liaison, in the Department of State from 1994-1997. She then served as Consul General in Warsaw, Poland from 1998-2001 and Consul General in Bogotá, Colombia from 2001-2004. From 2004-2006, she served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Islamabad.

She was deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, and after that, the U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh from April 13, 2006 to June 23, 2007. As the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2007 to 2009, Butenis won the State Department's Baker-Wilkins Award as the Outstanding Deputy Chief of Mission (2008). From 2009 to 2012, Butenis was the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the U.S. Ambassador to the Maldives. After the end of her second ambassadorship, Butenis' final career assignment as a foreign service officer was as the Dean of the School of Professional and Area Studies in the Foreign Service Institute.