Pettit, James D., 1956-

<p>James Pettit (born 1956) is an American diplomat, who served as United States Ambassador to Moldova in 2015–2018. He was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate. Pettit was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova on January 16, 2015. He presented his credentials to President Nicolae Timofti on January 30, 2015.</p>

<p>Pettit was born in North Dakota, moving to Hamburg, Iowa with his family when he was 7, and later to Council Bluffs, Iowa, at age 15. His father, Jack Pettit, was a Presbyterian minister. James Pettit graduated from Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs in 1974. He received a B.A. in International Studies from Iowa State University, and a M.A. in National Strategic Studies from the National War College. Between 2007 and 2010 Pettit was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, and previously Pettit served the Department of State as Consul General at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia (2003 – 2007), Consul General at Embassy Vienna, Austria (1999 – 2003), Director of Office of Post Liaison/Visa Office (1997 – 1999), Director of Washington Processing Center, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (1995 – 1997), Deputy Consul General at U.S. Embassy Moscow, Russia (1992 – 1994), Desk Officer of Office of Taiwan Coordination (1990 – 1992), Desk Officer of Office of Cuban Affairs (1988 – 1990), Consular Officer at American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Taipei, Taiwan (1986 – 1988), General Services/Political Officer at Embassy Moscow, Russia (1983 – 1985) and Consular Officer at Consulate General, Guadalajara, Mexico (1981 – 1983). Prior to that, he worked in the banking industry in Washington, D.C. While in Vienna, he served as Chairman and Secretary of the Executive Board of the American International School of Vienna.</p>

<p>Pettit was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova on January 16, 2015. He presented his credentials to President Nicolae Timofti on January 30, 2015.</p>

<p>In 2018 Pettit announced support the United States would provide Moldova in economic development as Moldova embraced government reforms and sought to eliminate corruption. The country has been known as a money laundering haven.</p>

<p>In 1981 Pettit married Nancy Bikoff Pettit, current U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Latvia. The couple have two grown children. In addition to English he speaks Russian, Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese, and Romanian.</p>

<p>On July 15, 2014, the Senate Foreign Relations committee heard testimony from James D. Pettit, whom President Barack Obama had nominated as U.S. ambassador to Moldova on May 22. If confirmed, it will be the first ambassadorial posting for Pettit, a career Foreign Service officer.</p>

<p>Pettit was born in North Dakota, moving to Hamburg, Iowa, with his family when he was 7 and to Council Bluffs, Iowa, at age 15. His father, Jack Pettit, was a Presbyterian minister. Pettit graduated from Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs in 1974 and attended Iowa State University, graduating in 1978 with a degree in international studies and Russian. His first professional job after college was as a letter of credit specialist in the international division of First American Bank in Washington, D.C., beginning in 1979.</p>

<p>Pettit joined the Foreign Service in 1981, with his first posting as a consular officer in Guadalajara, Mexico. He got to put his Russian to work for the first time in 1983, when he was moved to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow as a general services officer and political officer.</p>

<p>In 1986, Pettit was sent to Taiwan as consular officer in the American Institute, which serves as a de facto embassy in that country. He returned to Washington in 1988 as a desk officer in the State Department’s Office of Cuban Affairs. In 1990, Pettit was moved to a similar role in the department’s Taiwan Coordination Office.</p>

<p>Pettit returned to Moscow as deputy consul general in 1992, serving there for two years. It was during that period that there was a constitutional crisis in Russia, with fighting in the streets. Pettit and his wife Nancy and two children, along with other embassy personnel, were forced to remain in an underground shelter for two days.</p>

<p>After that tour, he took a break to study at the National War College in Washington, where he earned an M.A. in National Strategic Studies in 1995. He remained in the capital, working first as director of the Washington Processing Center for the Soviet refugee program and beginning in 1997 as chief of the Post Liaison Division in Visa Services, which provides guidance and supervision to Foreign Service posts on visa matters and coordinates between posts.</p>

<p>In 1999, Pettit went to Vienna as the consul general in the U.S. Embassy to Austria. He returned to Moscow in 2003 in a similar role in the embassy there. Much of his time was spent working with American companies who had difficulties getting permission for their employees to travel to the United States. Pettit moved to Kyiv, Ukraine in 2007 as deputy chief of mission in the U.S. Embassy.</p>

<p>He returned to Washington in 2010 as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, where he has served since.</p>

<p>In 1981, Pettit married Nancy Bikoff.</p>

<p>Pettit speaks Russian, Spanish, German and Mandarin Chinese.</p>