United States Ambassador to Mauritania Nomination of Henry Precht.

The President today announced that he will nominate Henry Precht, of Savannah, Ga., to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. He would replace E. Gregory Kryza, who is being assigned to the State Department.

Precht has been Director of Iranian Affairs at the State Department since 1978.

He was born June 15, 1932, in Savannah. He received a B.A. from Emory University in 1951 and an M.A. from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1970. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1953 to 1957.

From 1958 to 1961, Precht was a management intern, then analyst, with the Labor Department. He joined the Foreign Service in 1962 and was posted in Rome and Alexandria, on detail at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and at the State Department.

In 1969-70 Precht attended Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He was Deputy Chief of Mission in Port Louis from 1970 to 1972. From 1972 to 1976, he was posted in Tehran as political officer, then counselor for political-military affairs. In 1976 and 1977, he was a political-military affairs officer at the State Department. From 1977 to 1978, he was Deputy Director of the Office of Security Assistance and Sales.