GENTA HAWKINS; HPHS 1958
G
enta Hawkins Holmes took up her duties as Ambassador to Australia on March 27, 1997, after completing a year as a Diplomat-in-Residence at the University of California at Davis.Ambassador Holmes has had a long and distinguished career as a member of the United States Foreign Service. Most recently, she was Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Personnel for the Department of State (1992-1995). She was America's first Ambassador to the Republic of Namibia (1990-1992), following her assignment as Deputy Chief of Mission in the U.S. Embassy in South Africa, at the time of the transition (1989-1990).
She was Deputy chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince during a tense and violent period (1986-1988), and in Malawi (1984-1986). Ambassador Holmes received her first Presidential appointment in 1979, as the Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs of the Agency for International Development. This followed a year spent working for the U.S. Congress as an American Political Science Association Fellow.
Mrs. Holmes served as Chief of the Economic/Commercial Section at the American Embassy in Nassau. Other overseas assignments include Embassies in Paris and Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.
She received a BA in International Relations (magna cum laude) from the University of Southern California in 1962, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Ambassador Holmes also attended the London School of Economics and Political Science on a Rotary International Fellowship, where she did graduate work in International Relations.
Ambassador Holmes speaks French, and holds a Presidential and Superior Honor Award. She is married to Michael Dayton Holmes, a former Marine and Vietnam Veteran.