President-Elect Biden Picks Louisiana Native For UN Ambassador Role

On the same day the Trump Administration started the official transition process to the camp for President-Elect Joe Biden, a Louisiana native was brought into that camp.

East Baton Rouge Parish native, and LSU alum, Linda Thomas-Greenfield has been named by President-Elect Biden as his choice for Ambassador to the United Nations.

Thomas-Greenfield is originally from Baker, Louisiana, and graduated from LSU in 1974. From there she went on to University of Wisconsin where she gained her Master's Degree in Political Science. After college, she became an instructor at Bucknell University before joining the United States Foreign Service office in 1982.

During her public service career, Thomas-Greenfield was able to become the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration in 2004, a position she held until 2006. In 2008, President George W. Bush named her United States Ambassador to Liberia. Thomas-Greenfield remained in the Liberia Ambassador role into the Barack Obama Administration. At that time, she was named as the Director General of the United States Foreign Service office, the department she joined in 1982.

In 2013, President Obama named Thomas-Greenfield as the 18th Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in US history. She remained in that diplomatic role until March of 2017, when President Donald Trump's administration purged the State Department of long-term employees.

If Thomas-Greenfield's nomination is confirmed, she will replace Kelly Craft in the position.