Lucy Tamlyn (born 1955) is an American diplomat who has served as the

United States ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From 1877 until 1960, the republic had been a colony of Belgium, first under the name Congo Free State and then Belgian Congo. The Congo was granted its ...

since February 2023. She previously served as

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

to Sudan (from February to August of 2022); as United States ambassador to the Central African Republic (from 2019 to 2022); and as United States ambassador to Benin (from 2015 to 2018).

Early life and education

Tamlyn is from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Her father, Thomas Tamlyn, was a cardiologist who served in 1969 on the SS ''Hope'', a ship that brought medical support to underserved areas. Her mother, Ann Donaldson Tamlyn, later ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

. Tamlyn earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from St. John's College in 1978. Tamlyn then completed her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

School of International Affairs This is a list of schools with dedicated or teaching programs in diplomacy Africa Cameroon * University of Yaoundé: International Relations Institute of Cameroon located in Yaoundé * University of Yaounde 2 : International relations and ...

in 1980.

Career

Tamlyn joined the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

in 1982. In her early career, she held assignments in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, and domestically, in Washington, DC and New York City, NY. She served as political officer in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and represented the United States to the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. From 2005 to 2008, Tamlyn served as deputy chief of mission at the United States Embassy in

N’Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements''. The city serves as the centre of economic activity in Chad. Meat, fish and cotton processing are th ...

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

. She then became provincial reconstruction team leader in

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. Hu ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

from 2008 to 2009. After Iraq, she served in Paris, France, as Economic Counselor at the United States Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

as deputy chief of mission at the United States Embassy there. From 2013 to 2015, Tamlyn served in Washington, DC as director of the Office of the Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan.

Ambassador to Benin

On March 24, 2015, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

nominated Tamlyn to be the next United States ambassador to the Republic of Benin. Hearings were held on her nomination by the

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid pro ...

on July 30, 2015. The committee favorably reported the nomination to the Senate floor on October 1, 2015. She was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on October 8, 2015 via

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. Her term began October 13, 2015 and she presented her credentials on November 8, 2015. She left her post as ambassador to Benin in October 2018.

Ambassador to Central African Republic

On July 27, 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

nominated Tamlyn to be the next

United States ambassador to the Central African Republic The United States Ambassador to the Central African Republic is the ambassador of the United States to the Central African Republic. Alan W. Lukens (resident at Brazzaville) presented credentials as ''chargé d'affaires ad interim'' on August ...

. Hearings on her nomination were held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on September 26, 2018. The committee favorably reported the nomination on November 28, 2018. She was confirmed by the Senate via voice vote on January 2, 2019, and sworn in on January 11, 2019. Tamlyn presented her credentials to President

Faustin-Archange Touadéra Faustin-Archange Touadéra (; born 21 April 1957) is a Central African politician and academic who has been President of the Central African Republic since March 2016. He previously was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from Janua ...

on February 6, 2019. She left her post as ambassador to the Central African Republic in January 2022.

Charge d'Affaires to Sudan

Tamlyn was appointed Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

on January 17, 2022. She arrived in Khartoum on February 3, 2022, and she left on August 11, 2022.

Ambassador to DRC

On June 22, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Tamlyn to serve as the United States ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hearings on her nomination were held before the

on August 3, 2022. The committee favorably reported her nomination to the Senate floor on December 7, 2022. On December 20, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by the Senate via voice vote. Tamlyn was officially sworn in as ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on December 28, 2002. She arrived in Kinshasa on January 26, 2023, and she presented her credentials to President

Félix Tshisekedi Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (; born 13 June 1963) is a Congolese politician who has been the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 24 January 2019. He is the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) ...

on February 6, 2023.

Awards and recognitions

Tamlyn has won notable State Department awards, including the Secretary’s Award for Expeditionary Service.

Personal life

Tamlyn is married to travel writer and photographer Jorge M. Serpa of Portugal. They have two children. She speaks French and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamlyn, Lucy 1955 births Living people 21st-century American diplomats 21st-century American women Ambassadors of the United States to Benin Ambassadors of the United States to the Central African Republic Ambassadors of the United States to Sudan American women ambassadors Obama administration personnel School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni United States Foreign Service personnel American women diplomats