United States Embassy (Ethiopia)

The U.S. Legation to Ethiopia was raised to embassy status June 28, 1949 when George R. Merrell presented his credentials as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on June 28, 1949. He was succeeded by J. Rives Childs, May 14, 1951; Joseph Simonson, October 6, 1953; Don C. Bliss, June 22, 1957; Arthur L. Richards, August 26, 1960; Edward M. Korry, April 20, 1963; William O. Hall, October 27, 1967; E. Ross Adair, July 8, 1971; Arthur W. Hummel, Jr., April 3, 1975; and Frederic L. Chapin, July 21, 1978. On July 29, 1980, Ambassador Chapin was recalled at the request of the Ethiopian Government. Until June 1992 he was succeeded by a number of Charge d'Affaires ad interim including David A. Korn, June 1982 - July 1985; James Cheek, July 1985 - August 1988; Robert G. Houdek, August 1988 - June 1991; and Marc A. Baas, June 1991 - June 1992. With the downfall of the Derg junta, under the leadership of Mengistu Haile Mariam, in May 1991, U.S.-Ethiopian relations improved dramatically. Legislative restrictions on assistance to Ethiopia other than humanitarian assistance were lifted and diplomatic relations were upgraded to the ambassadorial level in 1992. On June 24, 1992, Marc A. Baas presented his ambassadorial credentials. He was succeeded by Irvin Hicks, July 22, 1994; David H. Shinn, July 2, 1996; Tibor P. Nagy, Jr., October 12, 1999; and Aurelia E. Brazeal, November 20, 2002.