WASHINGTON, USA, Wed. Dec. 15, 2021– Michelle Kwan, a former Olympic figure skater, has been nominated to serve as the new US Ambassador to Belize by President Joe Biden. The White House announced her nomination on Wednesday in a statement, in which it also named Caroline Kennedy as the country’s ambassador to Australia.
These nominations will now be taken to the US Senate for final approval. Kwan, who is now retired from figure skating, is a two-time Olympic medalist, a 5-time World champion, and a nine-time US champion, tied with Maribel Vinson for the all-time national record, online sources state.
Kwan served as a diplomatic envoy under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama before being nominated today to serve as Ambassador to Belize by Biden. She was born in Torrance, California, to Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong and grew up speaking both Cantonese and English.
She is a graduate of the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies and has a Bachelor’s degree in international studies and a minor in political science and also holds a Master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
She worked with Vice-President Joe Biden under the Obama administration in her capacity as a diplomatic envoy.
The last US Ambassador to Belize was Carlos Moreno, who left the office in January 2017. Since then, we have had three Chargé d’Affaires — the most recent, Leyla Moses-Ones, arriving in August of this year. So far, she has spent just shy of 5 months in the country.
The arrival date of the new US Ambassador to Belize is to be announced.