Furuta-Toy, Julie, 1960-

<p>President Barack Obama on June 18, 2015, announced his intention to nominate Julie Furuta-Toy, a career member of the Foreign Service, to be the next ambassador to Equatorial Guinea. If she’s confirmed, it will be the first such post for her.</p>

<p>Furuta-Toy is from Wyoming. As was true with many Japanese-Americans, Furuta-Toy’s father’s family was sent to an internment camp during World War II and he later served in the U.S. Army in Japan at the end of the war. Furuta-Toy attended UC Riverside, earning a BA in comparative literature in 1981 and earned an MA in the same subject from Indiana University in 1984. Ten years later, she earned a master’s degree from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Furuta-Toy joined the Foreign Service in 1986.</p>

<p>Furuta-Toy’s early assignments included Haiti, India, Mexico, and the Philippines. In 1996, she was named program officer in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. She moved over to the Bureau of Personnel in 1998 as a career development officer.</p>

<p>In 2001, Furura-Toy was sent to Moscow as a consul and immigrant visa unit chief. When she returned to Washington in 2004, she continued in that specialty as director of the Office of Public and Diplomatic Liaison and the Visa Office. Much of her job there involved explaining to those wanting to visit the U.S. on non-immigrant visas, such as those coming for educational and cultural events, why they were denied entry to the United States.</p>

<p>Furuta-Toy was made director of the Office of Children’s Issues in 2007. Here she dealt often with cases of child abduction, particularly those by a non-custodial spouse from another country.</p>

<p>Furuta-Toy was sent to Africa in 2009 as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Accra, Ghana. In 2012, she assumed a similar role in Oslo, Norway. Furuta-Toy ended up heading the mission there for almost two years because of the Obama administration’s inept handling of the nomination of George Tsunis, a bundler for Obama’s election campaigns, to be the ambassador to Norway. Tsunis eventually withdrew from consideration after a botched performance at his confirmation hearing.</p>

<p>Furuta-Toy is married to Steven Toy, another State Department employee. They have two children. Her languages are Spanish and Russian.</p>

<p>Julie Furuta-Toy (born 1960) is a former U.S. Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea. Following an initial announcement by President Barack Obama on June 18, 2015, Ambassador Furuta-Toy was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 22, 2015 and subsequently sworn in on November 24, 2015. She arrived in Malabo to take up her duties on January 7, 2016. Prior to her arrival in Equatorial Guinea, Ms. Furuta-Toy served as both Deputy Chief of Mission and chargé d'affaires at the Embassy of the United States, Oslo, (2012-2015). Her lengthy tenure as chargé d'affaires stemmed from delays related to the nomination and confirmation of a new ambassador to Norway by the United States Senate.</p>

<p>Ambassador Furuta-Toy was born in Opelika, Alabama and raised in Riverside, California, and is the daughter of Emi K. Furuta and Tokuji Furuta. She earned a Bachelor's degree from University of California, Riverside in 1981, and credits her liberal arts education and study abroad her final year in the U.K. with sparking her interest in a foreign service career. She also earned a Master's degree in comparative literature from Indiana University and a Master's degree in security studies from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.</p>

<p>Ambassador Furuta-Toy entered the United States Foreign Service in 1986 and has served overseas assignments in the Philippines, Venezuela, Haiti, India, and Russia. She has served domestic assignments in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and the Bureau of Human Resources. Her service as a consular officer includes time as Director of the Office of Children's Issues (2007–2009) and Director of the Office of Public and Diplomatic Liaison of the Visa Office (2004–2007). Prior to her arrival in Norway, she was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana (2009–2012).</p>

<p>Furuta-Toy is married to Steven M. Toy, a fellow Foreign Service Officer, and they are the parents of two adult children. They reside in Wapiti, Wyoming.</p>

<p>Furuta-Toy is of Japanese descent. Both of her parents were sent to Japanese internment camps during World War II. In addition to English, she speaks Spanish and Russian.</p>