Pamela J H Slutz

Early life and education

Born in Chicago, Illinois where her father, Robert F. Slutz, Jr. earned a Ph.D.in History from the University of Chicago, Pamela Slutz moved to Washington when her father joined the United States Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research in 1952. In 1955 her father joined the Foreign Service and was posted overseas. From the age of 6 to 15, Pamela Slutz lived in Palermo, Sicily (1956–58) and Bangkok, Thailand (1958-1964).

Pamela Slutz is an alumna of International School Bangkok (1958-1964), Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland (1964–66), and Hollins University (BA) (1970) where she participated in the Hollins Abroad Program in Paris in 1968-69. She also holds an MA in Asian Studies with specialization in Indonesian studies, (1972) from the University of Hawaii where she was an East-West Center Fellow. She is the recipient of the Hollins University Distinguished Alumnae Award (2010) and was one of fifty East-West Center alumni featured in the Center's Fiftieth Anniversary publication, "50 Years, 50 Stories."

Ambassador Slutz is married to Ronald J. Deutch, a Foreign Service Officer who retired in 2002; they were a tandem Foreign Service couple for 24 years.

Career

After entering the Foreign Service in 1981, she served overseas at U.S. embassies in Kinshasa, Zaire (1982–84) and Jakarta, Indonesia (1984–87). She worked in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Political Military Affairs from 1987 to 1989 where she was also a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Nuclear and Space Talks with the USSR in Geneva.

From 1991 to 1994 she was assigned to the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, where she was Acting Consul General from May to October 1994. From 1995 to 1997 she was deputy director of the U.S. Department of State Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs, the first woman to hold that position. Between 1997 and 1999 she was director of the Office of Regional and Security Policy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.She returned to Jakarta, Indonesia for a second tour as the Chief of the Political Section (1999-2001). She was Acting Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Taipei from 2001 to 2002, and Deputy Director until 2003, the first woman to hold those positions. In 2003, she was awarded the Order of the Brilliant Star with Violet Grand Cordon by the President of the Republic of Taiwan.

President George W. Bush nominated her to be U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia (2003-2006), the first woman to hold that position. As Ambassador to Mongolia, Slutz hosted the first-ever visits to Mongolia by a sitting president and first lady (President and Mrs. George W. Bush), a secretary of defense (Donald Rumsfeld), and a speaker of the House (Dennis Hastert) — and the second-ever visit by a secretary of state (Condoleezza Rice). She was also instrumental in channeling assistance to the first-ever shelter for abused women in Ulaanbaatar. In April 2015, Ambassador Slutz was awarded the Order of the Polar Star, the highest honor bestowed on non-Mongolian citizens by the President of Mongolia.

Ambassador Slutz then served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya (2006-2009) before being nominated by President Barack Obama to be the U.S. Ambassador to Burundi (2009-2012).