Whitehead, Robert E., 1950-

<p>Ambassador Robert E. Whitehead served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Togolese Republic, May 2012- July 2015. Prior to that, he spent three years as Chief of Mission in Khartoum, Sudan, an assignment that concluded in July 2011 shortly after the independence of the new Republic of South Sudan. An African specialist, Ambassador Whitehead spent a total of 24 years in Africa in nine different countries. He served as a political officer in Kinshasa (then Zaire, 1985-1987) and in various executive positions in U.S. embassies in the Central African Republic (1991-1994), Rwanda (for a six-month period in 1994-1995, immediately after the genocide), Zambia (1998-2001), and Zimbabwe (2001-2004).</p>

<p>He also completed tours in Guyana, Belize, and Romania and served as the first Consul-General to Juba, South Sudan (2006). His Washington postings included a tour as Senior Inspector in the Office of the Inspector General and two assignments as Director of the Africa Office in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (2006-2008 and 2011), an all-source intelligence analysis office with a foot in the State Department and a foot in the Intelligence Community. During his diplomatic career, he was awarded multiple Presidential Performance Awards and multiple State Department Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards; he was also inducted as a Commander in the Order of Mano and a member of the Central African Order of Merit.</p>

<p>Following retirement in November 2015 after 33 years of service, Ambassador Whitehead moved to Ft. Pierce, Florida, where he has remained active on foreign policy issues. He has spoken at university seminars and conferences and currently serves on the Advisory Council of the Fielden Institute for Life Long Learning, a foundation affiliated with the Indian River State College. He has been recalled to service thrice by the Department of State, serving a four-month stint as Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Burundi (2016), six months as Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa (2017) and four months as Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Bangui, Central African Republic (2018).</p>

<p>Born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Ambassador Whitehead completed his studies as a graduate fellow at Southern Illinois University and subsequently earned a certificate in French from IFCAD in Brussels. Before joining the Foreign Service in 1983, he taught English literature and linguistics as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Zaire campus in Bukavu, Kivu Province (1976-1980), and English at Northern Illinois University (1981-1983). Ambassador Whitehead is married to the former Agathe Mukabutera.</p>

<p>Their son Wesley is a career employee of the U.S. Department of State.</p>

<p>On October 17, 2011, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint as ambassador to the small West African nation of Togo a veteran diplomat who has spent years focusing on Africa–US relations.</p>

<p>Born circa 1954 in Indiana, Robert E. Whitehead earned his B.A. at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, and his M.A. in English Literature and Linguistics from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. From 1976 to 1980, he was a volunteer and a Fulbright lecturer at the National University of Zaire (Congo) in English and American History.</p>

<p>He joined the Foreign Service in 1983 and has served at ten overseas posts, all but three in Africa, although his first posting was to Guyana, in South America. Other early assignments included as Political Officer at the embassy in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo); Political Officer at the embassy in Belmopan, Belize, in 1988 and 1989; Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy in Bangui, Central African Republic; and Chargé d’Affaires at the embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, in late 1994, shortly after the end of the genocide that killed approximately 500,000 people there.</p>

<p>Whitehead’s only European assignment came from 1995 to 1998, when he was posted to the embassy in Bucharest, Romania, to serve as Political Officer. He was then promoted to Deputy Chief of Mission at embassy in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1999, and then served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe. Returning stateside, Whitehead served as desk officer in the Office of West African Affairs, and as a Senior Inspector in the Office of the State Department Inspector General. He then went back to Africa, first as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, from 2004 to 2005, and then as the first Consul General in Juba, South Sudan, in 2006 and 2007.</p>

<p>Back in Washington, Whitehead served as the Director of the Office of African Analysis in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research from 2007 to 2009, and then returned to Khartoum to serve again as Charge d’Affaires at the embassy from May 2009 to 2011, during the time that South Sudan formally seceded from Sudan.</p>

<p>Whitehead is fluent in French and Romanian, and also knows some Arabic.</p>

<p>Robert E. Whitehead (1950–)<br>
Career Foreign Service Officer<br>
State of Residence: Florida</p>

<p>Chargé d’Affaires (Sudan)<br>
Presentation of Credentials: May 2009<br>
Termination of Mission: July 2011</p>

<p>Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Togo)<br>
Appointed: April 2, 2012<br>
Presentation of Credentials: May 7, 2012<br>
Termination of Mission: Left post on September 26, 2015</p>

<p>Retired Ambassador Robert E. Whitehead (born Crawfordsville, Indiana) was the US Chargé d'Affaires in Gabon, as well as Ambassador to the Togolese Republic (2012- 2015) and Chief of Mission in Khartoum, Sudan (that position ended in July 2011 when the Republic of South Sudan became an independent country. He served as the first American Consul-General to Juba, South Sudan in 2006.</p>

<p>Whitehead graduated from Taylor University (1972) and earned an M.A. in English Literature and linguistics from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he was a graduate fellow.</p>

<p>After 33 years in the Foreign Service, Whitehead retired in 2015. Since then, he's been called back several times to serve as Chargé d'Affaires at Embassy in Burundi (2016), six months as Chargé d'Affaires at the Embassy in Kinshasa (2017) and four months as Counselor at the Embassy in Bangui, Central African Republic (2018). In 2019, he is the incumbent Chargé d'Affaires in São Tomé and Príncipe.</p>