The President today announced his intention to nominate Robert A. Flaten, of Minnesota, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Rwanda. He would succeed Leonard H.O. Spearman, Sr.
Currently Mr. Flaten serves as the Director of the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh Affairs at the Department of State of Washington, DC. Prior to this, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, 1982 - 1986; Director of the Office of North African Affairs; and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Congressional Relations at the Department of State. In addition, Mr. Flaten has served in France, Pakistan, and Israel; and as a Foreign Service inspector and a legislative management officer at the Department of State.
Mr. Flaten received a bachelor of arts degree from St. Olaf College and a master's degree from George Washington University. He was born May 21, 1934, in Minneapolis, MN. Mr. Flaten served in the U.S. Air Force, 1956 - 1959. He is married, has four children, and resides in Arlington, VA.
George Bush, Nomination of Robert A. Flaten To Be United States Ambassador to Rwanda Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/264658