Phyllis Marie Powers | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Nicaragua | |
In office May 3, 2012 – August 5, 2015 |
|
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Robert Callahan |
Succeeded by | Laura Dogu |
United States Ambassador to Panama | |
In office September 16, 2010 – May 3, 2012 |
|
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Barbara Stephenson |
Succeeded by | Jonathan Farrar |
Personal details | |
Born | 1953 (age 63–64) Utica, New York, U.S. |
Alma mater | Pennsylvania State University, University Park |
Phyllis Marie Powers (born 1953) is a Career Ambassador within the United States Foreign Service and the former United States Ambassador to Nicaragua. She was previously the United States Ambassador to Panama, and also served in senior roles in the US Embassies in Iraq, Peru and Colombia.
A native of Utica, New York, Powers graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor's degree in biology and is certified by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists as a Medical Technologist. Prior to entering the Foreign Service, Powers was a Medical Technologist at Alexandria Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia.
Powers entered the foreign service in 1978 and her early diplomatic career includes tours in Jordan, Russia, and Poland. In Washington, D.C., Ms. Powers served as Senior Post Management Officer for the Bureau of Near East Asia and South Asia, with oversight responsibility for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Persian Gulf countries and as Deputy Director of the Office of Travel Support in the Bureau of Administration.
In 2004, Powers was posted in Colombia as the Director of the Narcotics Affairs Section responsible for the Counter-Narcotics program known as Plan Colombia. From 2005 until June 2007, she was Deputy Chief of Mission of the U. S. Embassy in Lima, Peru. From 2007 to 2009, Powers was Director of the Office of Provincial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.