Nomination of Sam H. Zakhem To Be United States Ambassador to Bahrain

The President today announced his intention to nominate Sam H. Zakhem, of Colorado, as Ambassador to the State of Bahrain. He succeeds Donald Charles Leidel.

Mr. Zakhem began his career in 1962 as a cost analyst for the Ford Motor Co. in Detroit, MI. From 1967 to 1972, he was an instructor at the University of Colorado extension, and in 1968-1972 he was associate professor, Loretto Heights College in Colorado. He was a foreign student adviser at the University of Denver, 1972-1973. Since 1973 he has been a worldwide consultant and lecturer. Mr. Zakhem was a research analyst for the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC, 1973-1974. In 1976 he became director of corporate relations at Rocky Mountain Orthodontics in Denver, CO; vice president in 1982, and vice chairman, board of directors, in 1985. Mr. Zakhem was a State representative in the Colorado Legislature, 1975-1979, and State senator, 1979-1983. He was a member of the Board of Directors at the Small Business Administration, 1972-1974; the American Ethnic Bicentennial Commission, 1975-1976; and was appointed a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on the Peace Corps in 1984.

Mr. Zakhem graduated from the American University of Cairo (B.A., 1957), the University of Detroit (M.B.A., 1959), and the University of Colorado (Ph.D., 1964-1970). His foreign languages are Arabic, French, and Spanish. He is married and has three children. Mr. Zakhem was born November 25, 1935.