Michael C. Polt
Encyclopedia
Ambassador Polt was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia on November 30, 2009. He presented his credentials to Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves
on December 10, 2009.
Prior to his latest diplomatic mission, he led the Department of State's Bureau of Legislative Affairs as Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary during the transition between Presidential Administrations in 2009. The Ambassador was on temporary assignment at the German Marshall Fund
of the United States as Senior Transatlantic Fellow in 2008. During 2004-2007, Mr. Polt served as United States Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro
.
During his three decades as a career diplomat, Mr. Polt served as U.S. Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany and Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d′Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland. He has also served as Senior Advisor to the Director General of the Foreign Service for Management Reform and was a key member of the Senior Management Steering Board directing the State Department's 2003-2005 multimillion dollar reinvention of its Diplomatic Communications System.
Ambassador Polt has held other senior positions in the Department of State, as Deputy Director for European Security and Arms Control issues, and in Panama City as Political Conselor of the U.S. Embassy during the time leading up to the U.S. military action against the Noriega regime in 1989. During his earlier career, Mr. Polt was assigned to Embassies in Bonn
, Mexico City
, and Copenhagen
, as well as the U.S. Consulate in Bremen, Germany.
The Ambassador has been the repeated recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Service Award and numerous Department of State Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards for Outstanding Policy Leadership, Management, Crisis Performance, and Political Analysis. He has been awarded the Thomas Jefferson Award for Service to U.S. Citizens Overseas by American Citizens Abroad.
Mr. Polt was born in Austria
. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee
with a Master's Degree in Public Administration
and lives in suburban Virginia
when on assignment in Washington. Ambassador Polt and his wife Hallie have two children, Nicholas (28) and Lindsay (23).
Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Toomas Hendrik Ilves is the fourth and current President of Estonia. He is a former diplomat and journalist, was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the 1990s and later a member of the European Parliament...
on December 10, 2009.
Prior to his latest diplomatic mission, he led the Department of State's Bureau of Legislative Affairs as Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary during the transition between Presidential Administrations in 2009. The Ambassador was on temporary assignment at the German Marshall Fund
German Marshall Fund
The German Marshall Fund of the United States is a nonpartisan American public policy and grantmaking institution dedicated to promoting greater cooperation and understanding between North America and Europe....
of the United States as Senior Transatlantic Fellow in 2008. During 2004-2007, Mr. Polt served as United States Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
.
During his three decades as a career diplomat, Mr. Polt served as U.S. Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany and Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d′Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland. He has also served as Senior Advisor to the Director General of the Foreign Service for Management Reform and was a key member of the Senior Management Steering Board directing the State Department's 2003-2005 multimillion dollar reinvention of its Diplomatic Communications System.
Ambassador Polt has held other senior positions in the Department of State, as Deputy Director for European Security and Arms Control issues, and in Panama City as Political Conselor of the U.S. Embassy during the time leading up to the U.S. military action against the Noriega regime in 1989. During his earlier career, Mr. Polt was assigned to Embassies in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, and Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, as well as the U.S. Consulate in Bremen, Germany.
The Ambassador has been the repeated recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Service Award and numerous Department of State Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards for Outstanding Policy Leadership, Management, Crisis Performance, and Political Analysis. He has been awarded the Thomas Jefferson Award for Service to U.S. Citizens Overseas by American Citizens Abroad.
Mr. Polt was born in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
with a Master's Degree in Public Administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
and lives in suburban Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
when on assignment in Washington. Ambassador Polt and his wife Hallie have two children, Nicholas (28) and Lindsay (23).