Eric Whitaker

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Eric Whitaker in Niamey (2018)

Eric Paul Whitaker (born 1956 or 1957 in DeKalb , Illinois ) is an American diplomat .

Life

Eric Whitaker was born to a Northern Illinois University student in DeKalb and an Ideal Industries employee . He spent his childhood on the campus of Northern Illinois University, whose laboratory school he attended. At the age of eleven, he moved with his parents to nearby North Aurora . He attended North Aurora Elementary School, George Washington Junior High School, and West Aurora High School.

Whitaker graduated from the University of Illinois , which he graduated from in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Health Education. He then spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines from 1980 to 1982 . There he worked as a teacher and in the health and sanitary sector. He met his future wife Jonita in the Philippines and began to be interested in a diplomatic career. Back in the United States, he received a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 1984 . The Whitakers moved to California for six years , where Eric Whitaker worked as Assistant City Manager for the City of Lodi . During this time their two children were born.

Eric and Jonita Whitaker then joined the United States Department of State in Washington, DC Eric Whitaker became Vice Consul at the US Embassy in Seoul , South Korea , in 1990 . The couple were subsequently sent to Khartoum in Sudan , from where they were soon evacuated. Jonita Whitaker went to Ethiopia with the children , while Eric Whitaker initially worked as a refugee in Uganda . He finally came to Ethiopia, where he worked from 1994 to 1997 at the US embassy in Addis Ababa as an economic and trade officer. The Whitakers both successfully applied for transfers to Mali . Eric Whitaker was a political and economic officer at the US embassy in Bamako from 1997 to 1999 . From 2000 to 2002 he headed the economic and political department at the US embassy in Maputo , Mozambique .

The Whitakers then returned to the United States. Eric Whitaker received a Masters degree in Public Policy from the Wilson School at Princeton University in 2003 . He served as a trade policy officer in the State Department's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs in Washington, DC from 2003 to 2005. After that he worked abroad again, first from 2005 to 2007 as Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the US Embassy in Sudan Khartoum, followed by a 2007-lasting to 2008 working as a team leader for the reconstruction of the US Embassy in Baghdad in Iraq . Whitaker was involved in the development of the public infrastructure, road network and fences in the eastern part of Baghdad. He met President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Baghdad during a state visit, and was a personal guest of First Lady Laura Bush during the State of the Union Address during a short stay in Washington, DC .

Eric Whitaker was named Deputy Head of the US Embassy in Niamey , Niger , in 2008 . He initially stayed until 2010 and worked during this time as charge d'affaires of the Embassy. He served his next role from 2010 to 2012 as economic counselor at the US embassy in Nairobi , Kenya . Whitaker then worked from 2012 to 2013 as a foreign policy advisor to the Combined Joint Task Force in the Horn of Africa of AFRICOM in Djibouti . From 2013 to 2015 he was deployed as Deputy Head of the US Embassy in N'Djamena , Chad . Whitaker served as Director of East African Affairs at the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in Washington, DC from 2015 onwards . His wife Jonita Whitaker died the following year. He was the interim Deputy Assistant Secretary for East African Affairs in Washington, DC in 2017

Eric Whitaker was accredited as U.S. Ambassador to Niamey , Niger in 2018 . In this role he succeeded Eunice Reddick .

Web links

Commons : Eric P. Whitaker  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Katrina Milton: On the Record with Eric Whitaker. In: The MidWeek. July 17, 2017, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  2. ^ A b Eric P. Whitaker Scholarship Fund. Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Steve Straehley: United States Ambassador to Niger: Who Is Eric Whitaker? In: AllGov.com. October 27, 2017, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  4. ^ Ed Fanselow, Beacon News Staff Writer: Hometown Diplomat: Eric Whitaker of Aurora, Illinois. Reprinted with permission of the Beacon News, Aurora, Illinois. US State Department, July 14, 2002, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e Certificates of Competency for Nominees to be Chiefs of Mission: Whitaker Eric P - Republic of Niger. US State Department, September 2017, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Eric P. Whitaker Presents Credentials as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Niger. US Embassy in Niger, January 26, 2018, accessed April 26, 2018 .
  7. ↑ L'Ambassadeur des Etats Unis au Niger, fait ses adieux au chef de l'Etat. Agence Nigérienne de Presse, October 20, 2017, accessed April 26, 2018 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Whitaker, Eric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Whitaker, Eric Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH 1956 or 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH DeKalb , Illinois