Genta H. Holmes

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Genta Hawkins Holmes (b. September 3, 1940 in Anadarko, Oklahoma) is an American professor in diplomacy and former American foreign service officer and ambassador. She is currently teaching A Practicum in Diplomacy at the University of California, Davis.

Holmes graduated from high school at Huntington Park High School, Huntington Park, California in 1958. She received her B.A. in International Relations magna cum laude from the University of Southern California in 1962 and pursued graduate studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science on a Rotary International Fellowship from 1962–1963.

During her career at the U.S. State Department, she was the first U.S. Ambassador to Namibia and later served as Ambassador to Australia. From 1992–1995 she was the Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Personnel at the State Department. During her career in the Foreign Service, other assignments included:

  • Working for Congress as an American Political Science Association Fellow (1977–1978). She was the first woman selected for this position.
  • Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development (1979)
  • Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti during a tense and violent period (1986–1988)
  • Deputy Chief of Mission in the U.S. Embassy in South Africa at the time of the transition (1989–1990)
  • Deputy Chief of Mission in Malawi 1984–1986
  • Other assignments:

Ambassador Holmes speaks French, and holds both the Presidential and a Superior Honor Awards of the Department of State. She is married to Michael Dayton Holmes, a former Marine and Vietnam veteran.

Preceded by
none		 U.S. Ambassador to Namibia
1990–1992		 Succeeded by
Marshall Fletcher McCallie
Preceded by
Edward J. Perkins		 U.S. Ambassador to Australia
1997–2000		 Succeeded by
Edward William Gnehm, Jr.

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