Larry André Jr.

Larry André Jr.
Larry André Jr.
United States Ambassador to Somalia
	In office; February 7, 2022 – May 30, 2023
President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Donald Y. Yamamoto
Succeeded by	Richard H. Riley IV
United States Ambassador to Djibouti
	In office; February 19, 2018 – January 20, 2021
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Thomas P. Kelly III
Succeeded by	Jonathan Pratt
United States Ambassador to Mauritania
	In office; November 3, 2014 – November 17, 2017
President	Barack Obama; Donald Trump
Preceded by	Jo Ellen Powell
Succeeded by	Michael Dodman
Personal details
Born	Larry Edward André Jr.; 1961 (age 62–63)
Education	Thunderbird School of Global Management (MBA); Claremont McKenna College (BA)

Larry Edward André Jr. (born 1961) is a retired American diplomat and career member of the Senior Foreign Service who had served as the United States ambassador to Somalia from February 2022 to May 2023. He previously served as the United States ambassador to Djibouti from 2018 to 2021, and as the United States ambassador to Mauritania from 2014 to 2017.

Early life and education

André earned a Master of Business Administration from Thunderbird School of Global Management of Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Arts from Claremont McKenna College.^[2]

Career

André is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Minister-Counselor. He served as the United States Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at U.S. Embassy in Juba, South Sudan. He is a former ambassador to Djibouti and Mauritania. He has served as Director of the Office of the Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, and as Deputy Executive Director in the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, and was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.^[2]^[3]

André has served as a diplomat since 1990. He is a two-time Deputy Chief of Mission with appointments to nine American missions abroad, mostly in Africa. He has also held senior policy positions at the United States Department of State.^[4]^[5]

U.S. ambassador to Somalia

On April 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated André to be the next United States ambassador to Somalia.^[2] The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on his nomination on June 9, 2021. The committee reported him favorably to the Senate floor on June 24, 2021. On December 18, 2021, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote.^[6] On January 29, 2022, he presented a copy of his credentials to Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdisaid Muse Ali.^[7] On February 7, 2022, he presented his credentials to President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.^[8]

Awards and recognitions

He is the recipient of numerous State Department Awards, including the Director General Award for Reporting, and was recently recognized by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with the Joint Distinguished Civilian Award.^[2]

Personal life

Andre speaks French.^[2]

References

^ "Mahadsanid Soomaaliya - Thank You, Somalia". 30 May 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate Nine Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service as Ambassadors" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. April 15, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Larry Edward Andre Jr. (1961–)". Department of State.
^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. September 2, 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017 – via National Archives. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Bewig, Matt (November 23, 2013). "Ambassador to Mauritania: Who Is Larry André, Jr.?". AllGov. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
^ "PN376 - Nomination of Larry Edward Andre Jr. for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. December 18, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
^ U.S. Embassy Mogadishu, Somalia [@US2SOMALIA] (January 30, 2022). "Yesterday Ambassador André presented a copy of his letter of credence to Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdisaid Muse Ali" (Tweet). Retrieved 2022-02-03 – via Twitter.
^ U.S. Embassy Mogadishu, Somalia [@US2SOMALIA] (February 8, 2022). "Yesterday Ambassador André presented his credentials to H.E. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed" (Tweet). Retrieved 2022-02-11 – via Twitter.

External links

Biography at U.S. Department of State

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Jo Ellen Powell	United States Ambassador to Mauritania 2014–2017	Succeeded by Michael Dodman
Preceded by Thomas P. Kelly III	United States Ambassador to Djibouti 2018–2021	Succeeded by Andrea J. Tomaszewicz Chargée d’Affaires
Preceded by Donald Y. Yamamoto	United States Ambassador to Somalia 2022–2023	Succeeded by Richard H. Riley IV