Raynor, Michael Arthur, 1962-

<p>Michael Arthur Raynor (born 1962) is an American Foreign Service Officer specializing in relations with Africa. He is the current United States Ambassador to Ethiopia. He previously served as the Director of the Office of Career Development and Assignments in the Bureau of Human Resources of the United States Department of State. Raynor served as United States Ambassador to Benin from 2012 to 2015 after being nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Prior to his post in Benin, he was deputy executive director and then executive director of the Bureau of African Affairs.</p>

<p>Raynor earned his bachelor's degree in 1984 from Lafayette College, going on to obtain a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University.</p>

<p>Raynor is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, having joined the United States Foreign Service in 1988. He has served eight U.S. missions overseas, including six in Africa. He has been assigned to the U.S. embassy in Brazzaville, the consular officer at the embassy in Luxembourg, and the U.S. embassies in Djibouti City, Conakry, and Windhoek. He was a desk officer for Zimbabwe before becoming legislative management officer and special assistant in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs. Raynor was the management counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Harare from 2004 to 2008.</p>

<p>After returning from his post in Harare, Raynor was named deputy executive director of the Bureau of African Affairs in 2008. In 2010, he was elevated to executive director. On December 15, 2011, he was nominated by President Barack Obama to become United States Ambassador to Benin. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and assumed the ambassadorship on September 13, 2012. Raynor left his post in Benin on May 29, 2015, and became Director of the Office of Career Development and Assignments in the Bureau of Human Resources at the United States Department of State. In May 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Raynor to become United States Ambassador to Ethiopia. He was confirmed to the position by the U.S. Senate on August 3, 2017.</p>

<p>Mike Raynor joined the State Department in 1988, and is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor. He has served as U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia since his arrival in September 2017. Prior to his arrival in Addis Ababa, he served as Director of the Bureau of Human Resources’ Office of Career Development and Assignments starting in September 2016. From August 2015 to August 2016, he served as Assistant Chief of Mission in Kabul, with responsibility for the embassy’s foreign assistance, counter-narcotics, and law enforcement portfolios as well as its consular, management, and security functions. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Benin from 2012 to 2015. From 2010 to 2012, he served as Executive Director of the Bureau of African Affairs, following two years as the Deputy Executive Director. He has spent much of his career in Africa, including as management officer in Harare, Windhoek, Conakry, and Djibouti, and as General Services Officer in Brazzaville. He also served as Zimbabwe desk officer in the Bureau of African Affairs, Special Assistant and Legislative Management Officer in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, and Consular Officer in Luxembourg. His State Department awards include the 2008 Leamon R. Hunt Award for Management Excellence, several Senior Foreign Service Performance awards, and numerous Superior and Meritorious Honor awards. He has a B.A. in International Affairs from Lafayette College and a Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University. He is married with two children.</p>

<p>The East African nation of Ethiopia will soon have an ambassador from the U.S. who has specialized in relations with Africa for 20 of the 24 years of his career. Michael A. Raynor, nominated by President Donald Trump on May 22, 2017, is currently director of the Office of Career Development and Assignments in the Bureau of Human Resources at the State Department.</p>

<p>Born in 1962, Michael Arthur Raynor earned a B.A. in International Affairs in 1984 at Lafayette College and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University in 1986. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service who joined in 1988, Raynor had several early career foreign postings, including service as general services officer at the U.S. embassy in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, and consular officer at the embassy in Luxembourg.</p>

<p>He later served as management officer at the embassies in Djibouti City, Djibouti; Conakry, Guinea; and Windhoek, Namibia. Raynor has also served at several desk positions, including desk officer for Zimbabwe, and legislative management officer and special assistant in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs.</p>

<p>From 2004 to 2008, Raynor was the management counselor at the U.S. embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe.</p>

<p>He then served as deputy executive director of the African Affairs Bureau from 2008 to 2010, and as executive director from 2010 to December 2011. As executive director, he wrote to the State Department inspector general regarding the tragic attack on the State Department compound in Benghazi, Libya. Raynor wrote that a federal law requiring the Department to hire foreign security based on the lowest cost bidder, “often results in poorly paid and motivated guards,” which not only raises security risks but also “undercuts our Missions’ broader engagement in championing human rights.”</p>

<p>Raynor served his first ambassadorship in Porto Novo, Benin, from September 13, 2012 to May 29, 2015. While in Benin, Raynor became the victim of an email scam in which con artists sent an email purporting to be from him as ambassador to Benin.</p>

<p>Since 2015, Raynor has been director of the Office of Career Development and Assignments.</p>

<p>Raynor and his wife, Kathleen (McCann) Raynor, have two children, Bradley and Emma. He speaks Italian and French.</p>