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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release September 8, 1993

PRESIDENT NAMES FOUR AMBASSADORS

The President announced his intention today to nominate Alan John Blinken to be Ambassador to Belgium, Swanee Hunt to be Ambassador to the Republic of Austria, and William Lacy Swing to be Ambassador to the Republic of Haiti. In addition, the President announced that he has nominated Richard Wallace Teare to be Ambassador to the Republic of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

"These four individuals have all exhibited the level of accomplishment and excellence that Secretary Christopher and I have pledged that our ambassadors would have," said the President. "I am very proud of these choices."

Alan John Blinken is a Partner and Managing Director of Wertheim Schroder & Co., Inc. in New York City, a position he has held since 1975. He was formerly President of Model Roland & Co., where he worked for 15 years. In addition, Blinken is a board member of the Center for National Policy, the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens, and the African Medical & Research Foundation. He is a member of the New York State Economic Development Zone Commission, and New York City's Community Board 8. Blinken is also the Founder and Chairman of the Womens Gynecological Cancer Research Fund, President of the Blinken Foundation, and former board member of the New York Public Library. In 1990, he was a candidate for the New York State Assembly. Blinken is a graduate of Harvard College. He is married and has four children.

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Ambassadors
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Swanee Hunt is a Colorado community leader who currently serves as Chair of the Mayor of Denver's Human Capital Agenda Council and Founder, President of the Hunt Alternatives Fund. She was formerly president of the Women's Foundation of Colorado, of which she was a co-founder, chair of Governor Romer's Coordinating Council on Housing and the Homeless, Commissioner of the Denver Community Mental Health Commission, and a trustee of the University of Denver. She is also a beneficial co-owner of the Hunt Oil Company in Dallas. Hunt, who holds a Doctor of Theology degree from the Iliff School of Theology, has also authored articles in several professional journals of theology. She was formerly a minister of pastoral care, recipient of Denver's Martin Luther King Award and is an accomplished composer and photographer. She is married and has two sons and one daughter.

William Lacy Swing is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Career Minister. Since 1992, he has served as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Prior to that he served for three years as Ambassador to South Africa and two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Personnel. He has also served as Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia and the People's Republic of the Congo, and at posts in the Central African Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, and South Africa. In 1976-77, he was a fellow at the Harvard University Center for International Affairs. Swing holds degrees from Catawba College and Yale University. He and his wife have one son.

Richard W. Teare, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, is currently a special projects officer in the Office of the Director General of the Foreign Service. He was previously director of the Department's Office of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore Affairs. From 1983-89, he was the Deputy Chief of the U.S. Mission in Australia. He has also served as Deputy U.S. Representative to the Micronesian Status Negotiations, and Deputy Director of the Office of Philippine Affairs. Teare, who is married and has three children, is a graduate of Harvard College.

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