Gfoeller joined the State Department in 1984. Her previous foreign postings have included: Poland, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the Soviet Union, Belgium, Russia, and Turkmenistan. She has served as a deputy principal officer in Russia and deputy chief of mission in Turkmenistan.  She most recently served as consul general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 

 

Gfoeller was awarded the Rusk Fellowship in 2000 and taught graduate classes in political science at Georgetown University. She also wrote a book on US foreign policy interests in the Caspian Basin. She is a member of numerous foreign affairs organizations, including the Council of Foreign Relations.

 

Gfoeller was criticized by the interim government for seldom meeting with them when they were in the opposition to Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Currently, she is being criticized for ignoring the current opposition of the interim government.

 

According to Deputy Head Almazbek Atambayev of the interim government, “Americans shouted all the time about democracy, while the U.S. ambassador artfully covered abuses by the Bakiyev family… [while] opposition members were killed or imprisoned for the sake of the base.”