Michael Ray Arietti (born October 25, 1947) is a United States

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and a career

foreign service officer A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...

with the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

. He served as United States Ambassador to Rwanda from 2005 to 2008.

Early life and education

Raised in

Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The population was 42,141 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and East Longm ...

, Arietti graduated from

Enfield High School Enfield High School is a secondary school established in 1893 in Enfield, Connecticut. The Enfield High School campus is located in the Connecticut River Valley, on Enfield Street ( U.S. Route 5) in Enfield's Historical District. The school h ...

in 1965. He received a

B.A. 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

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in 1970.

Career

After graduating college, he volunteered for the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

and served in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

before joining the Department of State.

Awards and Recognitions

In 2009 he was given the State Department's Charles E. Cobb Jr. Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development in recognition of his work in Rwanda.

Personal life

Arietti is the son of Michael John Arietti (November 20, 1919 – May 18, 1993) and Margaret M. (Schiller) Arietti (September 6, 1920 – February 22, 2003). Arietti's father served in the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the couple were married on November 20, 1945 in California. The couple moved back near his father's family in Connecticut in 1948. They had two sons and three grandchildren. His mother was the first female police officer in Enfield, Connecticut.

References

External links

United States Department of State: Biography of Michael R. Arietti
!-- This page is gone; last date of page on Archive.org is Nov 12, 2008 -->

*[http://www.adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Arietti,%20Michael.pdf The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Foreign Affairs Oral History Project. MICHAEL ARIETTI. Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy; Initial Interview Date: August 23, 2011; Copyright 2012 ADST]
Personnel Announcement
George W. Bush White House, September 13, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Arietti, Michael Ray 1947 births Living people People from Los Angeles County, California People from Enfield, Connecticut Johns Hopkins University alumni United States Foreign Service personnel Ambassadors of the United States to Rwanda