The U.S. Embassy has announced the arrival of three foreign service officers: David Elmo, management officer; Virginia Sher Ramadan, consular section chief; and Dr. Daniel O’Connor, chief politi-cal/economic and public affairs officer.
As management officer, David Elmo is responsible for the overall business management of the embassy. He and his staff have responsibility for management operations related to logistics, finance, contracts, information systems, facilities, human resources, community relations, and health care.
Elmo has over 20 years of experience with the U.S. government. He comes to The Bahamas from his last assignment in Havana, Cuba. Other foreign service postings include Washington, D.C.; La Paz, Bolivia; and Milan, Italy. He speaks Spanish, Italian and some German.
A native of New York, Elmo graduated from Fordham College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He later received Masters degrees in management from Webster University; in real estate development, from Columbia University; and in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. In addition to being a diplomat, Elmo is an Army Reservist and was recently promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
In his part-time military capacity, Elmo commands units located in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“He is thrilled to be in The Bahamas and looks forward to learning more about the Bahamian culture and people,” the embassy press statemeant said.
Ramadan, the new chief of the consular section, is responsible for all American services and visa matters. Prior to her arrival in September, Ramadan served as the first U.S. public affairs officer in Libya since bilateral diplomatic relations were established after a gap of more than a quarter century, and helped open the United States Embassy in Tripoli in May of 2006.
Ramadan served in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Tunis, Tunisia, in her initial tours with the Foreign Service. She left the service in 1981 to pursue a career in law, but rejoined the service in 1999. Her first assignment after rejoining the foreign service was as the country-wide fraud prevention manager for Brazil, based out of Rio de Janeiro, where she led a large team dedicated to combating illegal entry into the United States.
During the years outside the foreign service, Ramadan served as an attorney with international law firm of Coudert Brothers in New York; as an immigration attorney with Catholic Charities in Virginia; and was a law professor for 14 years at New York Law School, teaching immigration law, international business transactions, wills, trusts and future interests and property paw.
Ramadan obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in foreign service from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and holds an MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Arizona.
She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School and her LLM (master’s degree) in international law from Columbia Law School in New York. Ramadan speaks Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic.
“She and her husband, Walid, and their four children look forward to the next three years in the beautiful Bahamas,” the embassy statement said.
O’Connor, the new political/economic/public affairs chief, is responsible for managing bilateral relations with the Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas as well as reporting to Washington on ongoing political and economic developments. In addition, the section is responsible for public affairs and cultural outreach programmes.
Prior to this assignment, Dr. O’Connor served in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and in Washington, DC. Before joining the Foreign Service, Dr. O’Connor was a presidential management intern at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and at the Department of Justice. He was also an adjunct professor of political science at the George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Dr. O’Connor holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delaware and a Ph. D. from The American University. He has co-authored a book and several articles on U.S. foreign policy.
Dr. O’Connor was born in New York but now lives in Rockville, Maryland. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with family, scuba diving, horseback riding, and swimming.
The embassy statement said he and his family “look forward to living in The Bahamas, making friends, and exploring all of the wonderful things this country has to offer.”
