Wohlers, Paul D.

Paul D. Wohlers is a retired American diplomat. He notably served as U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia (2011-2015).

Wohlers graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1974 with a B.S. in international affairs. He then served as a Naval Flight Officer, attached to the USS Eisenhower, later earning a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law in 1982. Early in his career with the U.S. State Department, Wohlers held posts at the U.S. embassies in Bucharest, Moscow, and Nicosia. He worked on arms control issues in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and was Desk Officer for Bangladesh in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs. He also served on the Executive Secretariat Staff.

Wohlers also served as Director of the Office of Caucasus Affairs and Regional Conflicts in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, Deputy Director of the Executive Secretariat Staff, Senior Watch Officer in the Operations Center, and as Deputy Executive Secretary at the U.S. Department of State.

Wolhers was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the sixth U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, and he was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on August 2, 2011. He was sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on August 11, 2011, arrived in Skopje on September 12, and presented his Credentials to the President of the Republic of Macedonia on September 13, 2011. He remained in this role until January 21, 2015.

After leaving his ambassadorship, Wohlers served as Deputy Commandant at the National War College in Washington, D.C. until retiring from the Foreign Service in June 2017. He has been an adjunct faculty member at the U.S. Naval Academy from August 2017 to the present.

Wohlers is married and has three daughters. In addition to English, he speaks Macedonian and Romanian. His brother, Laurence D. Wohlers, was the U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic from 2010 to 2013.