DeLaurentis, Jeffrey, 1954-

Jeffrey DeLaurentis (born 1954) is an American diplomat who served as the Chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the United States, Havana from 2015 to 2017. DeLaurentis has ambassadorial rank in the State Department because his prior position at the UN was a US Senate-confirmed ambassadorial position. Cuba and the United States formally restored diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015, after having severed diplomatic ties in 1961 amid the Cold War.

A graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, DeLaurentis also studied toward a doctorate in political science at Columbia's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences prior to joining the State Department in 1991. Since beginning his State Department career in 1991, Ambassador DeLaurentis has served in a number of overseas posts including twice before in Havana, first as consular officer in 1991-93, then as Political-Economic Section Chief from 1999-2002. He also served as Political Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, and Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.

In Washington, Ambassador DeLaurentis served as Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Director of Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council, and as an International Relations Officer in the Bureau of International Organizations. Prior to entering the Foreign Service, Ambassador DeLaurentis held a senior staff position at the Council on Foreign Relations.

From 2011 to 2014, DeLaurentis served as Minister Counselor for Political Affairs and Security Council Coordinator at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations with the rank of Ambassador. He then served as the Chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the United States, Havana from 2015 to 2017. DeLaurentis has ambassadorial rank in the State Department because his prior position at the UN was a US Senate-confirmed ambassadorial position. Cuba and the United States formally restored diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015, after having severed diplomatic ties in 1961 amid the Cold War. President Barack Obama formally nominated DeLaurentis as Ambassador to Cuba on September 27, 2016. DeLaurentis finished his 3-year cycle on July 7, 2017 and was replaced by Scott Hamilton. He then joined Albright Stonebridge Group as a Senior Advisor, drawing on his background as a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service with strong experience in Latin America, Europe, and at the United Nations.