Diplomat In Residence
Each year, the State department assigns Senior Foreign Service Officers to the position of Diplomat in Residence at certain colleges and universities throughout the United States. The DIR program is central to the effort to recruit the best and brightest to represent America's rich diversity to the world.
[Left]: Ambassador Harriet L. Elam-Thomas (third from left, center row) with mentally disabled children from the specialized school ESTEL in Ouakam, Dakar, during a donation ceremony of academic materials, June 26, 2002. (Photo by Paul Herman, Press Attache, Embassy Dakar)