Lu, Donald, 1966-

<p>The U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, Donald Lu, was sworn in on September 18, 2018. Prior to this assignment, Ambassador Lu was the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Albania. His overseas postings include Deputy Chief of Mission in India, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan. He also served for a year as Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan. Ambassador Lu worked on the Ebola crisis in West Africa as Deputy Coordinator for Ebola Response in the State Department.</p>

<p>Mr. Lu is a Foreign Service Officer with 28 years of U.S. government service, including assignments in Pakistan, India, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Washington. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa from 1988-1990, he helped to restore hand-dug water wells and to teach health education and latrine construction.</p>

<p>Mr. Lu is from Huntington Beach, California. He graduated from Princeton University with both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in international relations. He is married to Dr. Ariel Ahart, and together they have two children, Kip, age 16, and Aliya, age 13. He speaks Albanian, Russian, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Urdu, Hindi, and West African Krio. He enjoys biking, watching movies, traveling, and spending time with his family.</p>

<p>Donald Lu (born 1966) is a United States diplomat. He was the immediate past Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in New Delhi, India. From late 2014 through 2018 he was the US Ambassador to Albania. Lu was nominated by President Trump to be the next United States Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic on May 24, 2018 and confirmed by the Senate on September 6, 2018. He was sworn in on September 18, 2018, and presented his credentials to Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov on October 12, 2018.</p>

<p>Lu was born in Huntington Beach, California. He graduated with an A.B. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1988 after completing a 158-page long senior thesis titled "The Involvement of International Peacekeeping in Providing Humanitarian Assistance." He later received a M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School in 1991. Lu was a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa in 1988-1990 helping restore hand-dug water wells, and teach health education and latrine construction.</p>

<p>Lu joined the United States Foreign Service in 1990 and held posts in Pakistan, India, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Washington. He has been working with the State Department for over 25 years. Before he was appointed Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, he served as the Chargé d'affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission for United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan from July 4, 2009, through July 2010, when the office of the Ambassador to Azerbaijan had not been filled yet. He was one of proponents of immediate appointment of US Ambassador to Azerbaijan. In May 2010, the current Ambassador Matthew Bryza was already nominated to take the post and Lu was assigned to India in July 2010. The new post in New Delhi is Lu's second assignment to India. He was the Deputy Chief of Mission during president Obama's visit to New Delhi. He had previously worked as staff assistant to Ambassador Frank Wisner and as the political officer covering Kashmir and India-Pakistan relations in late 1990s. Before moving to Tirana, Albania, he worked on the Ebola crisis in West Africa as Deputy Coordinator of Ebola response. He was sworn in as a U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Albania on December 17, 2014. He moved to Tirana, Albania, in late 2014 as the United States Ambassador. This was his first official post as an Ambassador and not the Deputy Chief of Mission. Subsequent to his May 2018 nomination to be Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, it was reported that he would be leaving Albania in July 2018. He was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic on September 18, 2018.</p>

<p>Lu was awarded with two Meritorious Honor Awards and five Superior Honor Awards.</p>

<p>He is married to Ariel Ahart, a public health specialist. The couple has two children. In addition to English, Lu speaks Chinese, West African Krio, Urdu, Hindi, Russian, Georgian, Azerbaijani and Albanian.</p>