Biography

Kenneth Merten is a career member of the senior Foreign Service; he joined the diplomatic corps in 1987 and has served two previous diplomatic assignments in Haiti. Most recently, Ambassador Merten has served as a Deputy Executive Secretary to U.S. Secretary of State Clinton and earlier to U.S. Secretary of State Rice. Ambassador Merten’s overseas assignments include the U.S. Embassy in Paris, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels and the U.S. Embassy in Bonn. Ambassador Merten’s Washington experience includes two assignments in the State Department Operations Center, which supports the daily work and travel of the Secretary of State. He also has worked in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and on the Cuba Desk, and worked for the Special Advisors on Haiti in 1993-1994.

Ambassador Merten holds a B.A. from Miami University in Ohio, and a Masters in Public Administration from American University. Studies at the Université d’Aix-Marseille in France and at Karl Franzens Universität in Austria complement his other academic work.