Ambassador Deborah Malac

U.S. Ambassador Deborah R. Malac is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, who has served with the Department of State since 1981.

Ambassador Malac served as the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda from 2016-2019. Previously, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to Liberia (2012-2015) and the Director of the Office of East African Affairs at the State Department in Washington, D.C.

She also served as the Director of the Mid-Level Division in the Office of Career Development and Assignments in the Bureau of Human Resources. Ms. Malac also previously served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Before moving to Addis, Ms. Malac was Deputy Director in the Office of East African Affairs; Deputy Director in the Office of Agricultural, Biotechnology, and Textiles Trade Affairs and political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal. She has also served as a political officer in Bangkok, Thailand and Pretoria, South Africa; desk officer for South Africa and Laos; officer-in-charge of the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Program in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs; and as a consular/economic officer in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Ms. Malac holds a B.A. in international studies (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Furman University (1977), a M.A. in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia (1981), a M.S. in national resources strategy (Distinguished Graduate) from the National Defense University (2002), and spent a year studying international law at the University of Basel on a post-graduate fellowship under the auspices of the Fulbright Foundation. She also speaks French, German, and Thai.