By The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam —
United States President Donald Trump has nominated a medical doctor as
his choice of ambassador to Tanzania, ending three years of the country
running without a substantive appointee in Dar.
Mr Trump settled on
Dr Don J. Wright of Virginia as his envoy to Tanzania, three years
after being elected to succeed President Barrack Obama in the White
House.
President Obama and
before him President George Bush, placed premium value on their posting
to Dar and both leaders of the powerful nation visited Tanzania during
their time in office. President Bush came in twice, including
accompanying Obama in his trip.
A statement posted
on the website of the White House announced the nomination of Dr Wright
on September 30, this year. He is set to be vetted by the US Congress
and Senate before taking up his post.
If confirmed, Dr
Wright would succeed Mark Bradley Childress, a non-career appointee who
served as US ambassador to Tanzania from May 22, 2014 to October 25,
2016.
Senior Foreign Service Officer (FSO) Dr Inmi Patterson has been Chargé d'Affaires of the US embassy since June 2017.
The nominee is a
career Senior Executive Service (SES) member and is currently working in
the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a brief
bio posted on the website.
He was nominated alongside the appointees for Estonia and the Republic of Palau.
Dr Wright is the
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Director of the Office of
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the HHS.
His career at HHS
includes service as acting Assistant Secretary for Health and acting
Executive Director of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and
Nutrition.
According to the
statement, Dr Wright developed and implemented the National Action Plan
to Reduce Healthcare Associated Infections and Healthy People 2020, US's
framework for disease prevention and health promotion initiatives.
Before joining the government as Director of the Office of Occupational
Medicine at the Department of Labor, he was a clinician in Texas for 17
years.
He received his BA
at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, and his MD at the University
of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
He received an MPH
at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa. He was honoured by the
American College of Preventive Medicine in 2019.
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