Maurice S. Parker is a United States diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

 and career foreign service officer

United States Foreign Service

The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...

 of the State Department

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

. , he is the United States Ambassador to Swaziland

United States Ambassador to Swaziland

This is a list of Ambassadors of the United States to Swaziland.After the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, Swaziland became a British protectorate and thus came under the hegemony of the British Empire. In the early years of colonial rule, the British had expected that Swaziland would eventually be...

. President Bush nominated him as ambassador on April 30, 2007. He took the oath of office on July 20, 2007 and presented his credentials

Letter of Credence

A letter of credence is a formal letter usually sent by one head of state to another that formally grants diplomatic accreditation to a named individual to be their ambassador in the country of the head of state receiving the letter...

 to the government of Swaziland in September 2007.

Parker received his bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his master's degree from San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...

.

He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, with the class of Minister-Counselor. Prior to his posting in Mbabane

Mbabane

-References:...

, he was Director of the Office of Employee Relations and Foreign Service Assignments in the Bureau of Human Resources. He was also Director of Consular and International Programs at the Homeland Security Council

Homeland Security Council

The Homeland Security Council is an entity within the White House Office tasked with advising the President on matters relating to Homeland Security...

 at the White House and Principal Officer at the consulates in Ciudad Juárez

Ciudad Juárez

Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...

 and Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

. His other overseas assignments have included Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 and Guyana

Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...

.