This is historical material, "frozen in time." The web site is no longer updated and links to external web sites and some internal pages will not work.

THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                  (Beijing, People's Republic of China)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                      June 26, 1998

              PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES JOSEPH H. MELROSE, JR.
            AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE

The President today announced his intent to nominate Joseph H. Melrose, Jr. to be U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Sierra Leone.

Mr. Melrose, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor. He helped with the establishment of the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai Peninsula and served as Executive Secretary of the U.S. Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Europe. In addition, he was appointed Executive Director of the Near East and South Asian Bureau at the State Department in l986. Mr. Melrose worked for several years in the State Department in the Office of the Under Secretary of Management and, in l995, he was named to his current position as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Nigeria.

Mr. Melrose received his B.A. from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and his M.A. in journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia. Mr. Melrose speaks Vietnamese and is a past Vice President of the American Foreign Service Association.

-30-30-30-