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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release April 19, 1996

THE PRESIDENT NAMES AMBASSADOR TO BURUNDI

The President today announced the nomination of Morris N. Hughes of Nebraska, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, as Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi.

Mr. Hughes joined the Foreign Service in 1970 and has served abroad in Mexico, twice in Russia, in Belgium and in France. Since 1993 he has been Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in the Republic of Cameroon.

Mr. Hughes was born in Humboldt, Nebraska in 1945. He attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and graduated in 1967 with a degree in political science. He served in the Republic of Vietnam as a platoon commander from June 1968 until March 1969. He was wounded twice and medically retired from the Marine Corps in August of 1969. His awards include two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, a Navy Commendation Medal and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. After leaving the service, Mr. Hughes enrolled in the School of Public and International Affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In 1970 he entered the State Department as a Junior Officer.

Mr. Hughes speaks French, Spanish and Russian. He is married to Barbara Fitzsimmons Hughes who is also a Foreign Service Officer. They have two children. Guy is 19 and attends Colby College in Maine. Cassie is 17 and is a senior at the Westtown School in Pennsylvania.

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