Julieta Valls Noyes

Early life and education

Noyes was born Julieta A. Valls, the daughter of Cuban refugees in the U.S. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1984. Because there was no International Relations major at Wellesley at the time, she created her own independent major, including studies in history and political science. During her junior year, she studied abroad in Geneva, Switzerland.

Career

Noyes is a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service. After joining the Foreign Service in 1985, she was assigned to positions in Panama, Spain, Mexico, and Guatemala. She served as Deputy Chief of Mission to the Holy See.

Some confidential communications Noyes wrote while assigned to the Vatican were published as part of WikiLeaks, and revealed difficulties in the relationship between the Holy See and the Republic of Ireland, which was investigating a sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

In her role as the US deputy assistant secretary for European affairs, Noyes addressed issues with ISIL, and noted that “one of the paramount concerns” was cutting off ISIL funding. “The financing of this barbaric organisation allows it to continue its operations. What we have to do is degrade its abilities and ultimately to destroy it.”

In June, 2014 the Senate confirmed her confirmation as ambassador to Croatia, viewed as one of several "key European countries".

After her arrival in Croatia in the role of U.S. Ambassador, Noyes was received by Croatian Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner, who noted that Croatia would continue to be a key ally to the U.S. and within NATO. She was also welcomed by Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic, who underscored Croatia's friendship and alliance with the U.S.

Personal

In addition to English, Noyes speaks French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. She and her husband, Nick Noyes, have three children.