Slutz, Pamela Jo Howell, 1949-

Pamela Jo Howell Slutz (born January 13, 1949) was a career member of the United States Foreign Service who served as U.S. Ambassador to Burundi from November 2009 until February 2012 and as U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia from September 2003 to September 2006. She was the recipient of two U.S. Department of State Superior Honor Awards and the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive. Ambassador Slutz retired on April 30, 2012, but continues to work part-time for the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of State.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Pamela Slutz grew up in Washington, D.C., Palermo, Italy, Bangkok, Thailand, and Rockville, Maryland. She attended Hollins University, where she earned a B.A. in politics, and the University of Hawaii where she earned an M.A. in Asian Studies with specialization in Indonesian studies.

After entering the Foreign Service in 1981, she served overseas at U.S. embassies in Kinshasa, Zaire (1982–84) and Jakarta, Indonesia (1984–87). She worked in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Political Military Affairs from 1987 to 1989 where she was also a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Nuclear and Space Talks with the USSR in Geneva. In 1988–1989, Ms. Slutz was nominated by the State Department to be an MIT Seminar XXI Fellow.

From 1991 to 1994 she was assigned to the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, where she was Acting Consul General from May to October 1994. From 1995 to 1997 she was deputy director of the U.S. Department of State Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs, the first woman to hold that position. Between 1997 and 1999 she was director of the Office of Regional and Security Policy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. She returned to Jakarta, Indonesia for a second tour as the Chief of the Political Section (1999–2001). She was Acting Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Taipei from 2001 to 2002, and Deputy Director until 2003, the first woman to hold those positions. In 2003, she was awarded the Order of the Brilliant Star with Violet Grand Cordon by the President of Taiwan.

President George W. Bush nominated her to be U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia (2003–2006), the first woman to hold that position. As Ambassador to Mongolia, Slutz hosted the first-ever visits to Mongolia by a sitting president and first lady (President and Mrs. George W. Bush), a secretary of defense (Donald Rumsfeld), and a speaker of the House (Dennis Hastert) — and the second-ever visit by a secretary of state (Condoleezza Rice). She was also instrumental in channeling assistance to the first-ever shelter for abused women in Ulaanbaatar. In April 2015, Ambassador Slutz was awarded the Order of the Polar Star, the highest honor bestowed on non-Mongolian citizens by the President of Mongolia.

Ambassador Slutz then served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya (2006–2009) before being nominated by President Barack Obama to be the U.S. Ambassador to Burundi (2009–2012). She is the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive (2011) and two Department of State Superior Honor Awards (1999 and 2009).

Since joining her husband, Ronald J. Deutch, in retirement in Kerrville, Texas; Pam served on the Board of Directors of the North America-Mongolia Business Council (NAMBC), including as its chairman from 2013–2016; and, in March 2019, was elected President of The Mongolia Society. She became a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in April 2017, tracing her blood lineage to American Patriots Asa Dains (CT) and John Sluts (MD). Slutz speaks French, Indonesian and Mandarin.