Noyes, Julieta Valls, 1962-

<p>Julieta Valls Noyes (born 1962) is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Croatia. She was nominated by President Obama on March 26, 2015 and confirmed by the Senate June 24, 2015.</p>

<p>Noyes was born Julieta A. Valls, the daughter of Cuban refugees in the U.S. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1984. Because there was no International Relations major at Wellesley at the time, she created her own independent major, including studies in history and political science. During her junior year, she studied abroad in Geneva, Switzerland.</p>

<p>Noyes is a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service. After joining the Foreign Service in 1985, she was assigned to positions in Panama, Spain, Mexico, and Guatemala. She served as Deputy Chief of Mission to the Holy See.</p>

<p>Some confidential communications Noyes wrote while assigned to the Vatican were published as part of WikiLeaks, and revealed difficulties in the relationship between the Holy See and the Republic of Ireland, which was investigating a sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.</p>

<p>In her role as the US deputy assistant secretary for European affairs, Noyes addressed issues with ISIL, and noted that "one of the paramount concerns" was cutting off ISIL funding. "The financing of this barbaric organisation allows it to continue its operations. What we have to do is degrade its abilities and ultimately to destroy it."</p>

<p>In June, 2014 the Senate confirmed her confirmation as ambassador to Croatia, viewed as one of several "key European countries".</p>

<p>After her arrival in Croatia in the role of U.S. Ambassador, Noyes was received by Croatian Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner, who noted that Croatia would continue to be a key ally to the U.S. and within NATO. She was also welcomed by Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic, who underscored Croatia's friendship and alliance with the U.S.</p>

<p>In October 2018, Noyes began serving as deputy director of the Foreign Service Institute, the primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community.</p>

<p>In addition to English, Noyes speaks French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. She and her husband, Nick Noyes, have three children.</p>

<p>Julieta Valls Noyes, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State. Prior to this assignment, she was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia, a NATO Ally and member of the European Union. From 2013-2015, Ambassador Noyes held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, where she was responsible for managing relations with twelve countries in Western Europe and the European Union.</p>

<p>As Deputy Executive Secretary for the Department of State from 2011-2013, Ambassador Noyes managed trips and oversaw the preparation of briefing materials for two Secretaries of State. She organized close to twenty trips, traveling over 200,000 miles, and visiting every continent. Ambassador Noyes was Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See from 2008-2011.</p>

<p>Ambassador Noyes has also served as Deputy Director of the Operations Center, the 24-hour crisis management and communications center of the State Department; Director of the Office of Multilateral and Global Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; and in domestic and overseas positions in the Bureaus of European and Western Hemisphere Affairs. As Political Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Panama from 1999-2002, she negotiated a status of forces agreement, an achievement for which she earned a Distinguished Service Award.</p>

<p>Ambassador Noyes speaks Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and some French and Croatian. A graduate of Wellesley College, she has a Master’s Degree from the Eisenhower College of the National Defense University. She is the recipient of numerous Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards.</p>

<p>Julieta Valls Noyes, a career member of the Foreign Service, was named as the nominee to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Croatia on March 26, 2015. If she’s confirmed, it will be the first such posting for Noyes.</p>

<p>Noyes, the daughter of Cuban refugees, graduated from Wellesley College in 1984 and joined the Foreign Service the following year. In a later interview, she credited doing service work in Guatemala as a teen with inspiring her career in diplomacy. Her first posting was as vice consul in the U.S. consulate in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. In 1987, she was sent to the embassy in Guatemala City, Guatemala as political officer before being brought home in 1989 as the Panama desk officer in the Bureau of American Republics Affairs. She returned to Mexico in 1993 as the assistant press officer in the embassy in Mexico City.</p>

<p>Noyes had her first taste of European diplomacy in 1995, when she began serving as the State Department’s desk officer for Greece. Two years later, she was posted as political officer at the U.S. embassy in Madrid, Spain. Noyes returned to Latin America in 1999 as the political section chief of the embassy in Panama City, Panama.</p>

<p>She returned to Washington in 2002 as deputy director in the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. In 2004, Noyes took a year off to work on her Master’s degree at the National Defense University, graduating in 2005. She then was made director of the Office of Multilateral and Global Affairs, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the State Department. In 2007, Noyes was made deputy director of the State Department Operations Center.</p>

<p>Noyes went overseas again in 2008 as the deputy chief of mission and chargé d’affaires in the U.S. mission to the Holy See. She made some news when some cables she had sent concerning the Vatican were released through WikiLeaks. Among the subjects covered in her pithy cables were the Catholic priests’ sex abuse scandal in Ireland and the Vatican’s assistance in releasing U.S. citizens being held by Iran.</p>

<p>She returned to Washington in 2011 as the deputy executive secretary in the State Department, responsible for preparing briefing materials for the Secretary of State and planning travel for the secretary.</p>

<p>In July 2013, Noyes took over as deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs. She made more news in this post when in late 2014 she was quoted as saying air strikes on oil pipelines held by ISIS were “a viable option.”</p>

<p>Noyes is married to Nick Noyes, a retired Foreign Service officer. They have three children: Alexandra, Nicholas and Matthew. Noyes speaks Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and some French.</p>