Laurence D. Wohlers was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic (CAR) on September 8, 2010.

 

Wohlers’ parents worked as Foreign Service officers in Japan, Pakistan, and the former Yugoslavia, where father Lester served as country film officer for the U.S. Information Agency.

 

Wohlers earned his B.A. degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and his M.S. from the National War College in Washington, D.C.

 

He first served in the CAR from 1985 to 1987 as a Public Affairs officer and as Director of the Centre Martin Luther King in Bangui, overseeing construction of the cultural center. He also served in Mauritania (economic officer), Madagascar (political affairs officer), Japan, Belgium and Benin.

 

Wohlers held the positions of Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the European Union. In 2008, during a transition period between U.S. administrations, Wohlers took the post of Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy. He then joined the Smithsonian Institution for a year as a Senior Advisor for International Activities.

 

Wohlers and his wife, Ann, have three children—Christopher, Marian and Sophie.

 

Culture’s Purpose and the Work of Cultural Diplomacy (by Laurence Wohlers, American University) (pdf)

America’s Public Diplomacy Deficit (by Larry Wohlers, National War College) (pdf)