Staff Reporter :The newly appointed US ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat arrived in Dhaka on Sunday. She landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at about 3:30pm.Diplomatic sources said that the new ambassador will present credentials to President Abdul Hamid soon. After completion of official formalities, she will appear before the media. Marcia, former deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Human Resources at the Department of State, will be 15th US Ambassador in Bangladesh. She has succeeded Ambassador Dan W Mozena who served in Bangladesh since May 2011.US President Barak Obama on May 22 announced his intent to nominate Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat as a new ambassador to Bangladesh, said a White House statement.Ambassador Bernicat, a career diplomat of Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, was deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Human Resources at the Department of State, since 2012.She was previously ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau from 2008 to 2011. She served in the Department of State as office director for India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bhutan in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs from 2006 to 2008.From 2004 to 2006, she was the senior-level director and career development officer in the Bureau of Human Resources at the State Department. Ambassador Bernicat also served as deputy chief of Mission at the US embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados from 2001 to 2004, and as deputy chief of Mission at the US embassy in Lilongwe, Malawi from 1998 to 2001. She was principal officer at the US consulate in Casablanca, Morocco from 1995 to 1998, deputy political counselor at the US embassy in New Delhi, India from 1992 to 1995, and desk officer for Nepal and India in the Bureau of Near East and South Asian Affairs from 1988 to 1990. Earlier, in her career, she was special assistant to deputy secretary of State John Whitehead, consular officer in Marseille, France, and political/consular officer at the US embassy in Bamako, Mali. Ambassador Bernicat received BA degree from Lafayette College and an MS from Georgetown University.
