Nomination of Willard Ames De Pree To Be United States Ambassador to Bangladesh

The President today announced his intention to nominate Willard Ames De Pree, of Maryland, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, as Ambassador to the People's Republic of Bangladesh. He succeeds Howard Bruner Schaffer.

Mr. De Pree was a teaching assistant in political science at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1951 to 1953. In 1952, he was a student intern at the Department of State and subsequently joined the Foreign Service in 1956. He served as a college relations officer in the Department, 1956-1957. His first overseas assignment came in 1957 as a consular officer in Cairo, Egypt, to be followed as economic/consular officer in Nicosia, Cyprus, 1958-1960. Mr. De Pree was then detailed to Northwestern University for African area training, 1960-1961, returning to the State Department as an intelligence research specialist, 1961-1964. He was assigned to Accra, Ghana, as political officer, 1964-1968, and then became deputy chief of mission in Freetown, Sierra Leone, 1968-1970. Mr. De Pree attended the senior seminar in foreign policy at the Foreign Service Institute for a year before his assignment as deputy coordinator at the senior seminar, 1971-1972. He was a member of the Policy Planning Staff in the State Department, 1972-1975. He was appointed U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of Mozambique in 1976 and served there until 1980, when he became a senior inspector in the State Department. From 1982 to 1983, Mr. De Pree was Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Management, and then he became Director of the Office of Management Operations, 1983-1987.

Mr. De Pree graduated from Harvard College (B.A., 1950) and from the University of Michigan (M.A., 1952). He served in the United States Army (1954-1956). Mr. De Pree is married, has six children, and resides in Bethesda, MD. He was born November 1, 1928, in Zeeland, MI.