Leonardo Neher

Leonardo Neher
9thUnited States Ambassador toBurkina Faso
In office September 21, 1984 – August 1, 1987
President	Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Julius Waring Walker, Jr.
Succeeded by	David H. Shinn
Personal details
Born	(1922-12-05)December 5, 1922 Cincinnati, Ohio
Died	May 11, 2015(2015-05-11)(aged 92)
Profession	Diplomat

Leonardo Neher(December 5, 1922 – May 11, 2015) was an American diplomat. He was the United States Ambassador toBurkina Fasofrom 1984 to 1987 (then theRepublic of Upper Volta).

Biography

Neher was born on December 5, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attendedAkron Universityfrom 1940 to 1941, and later graduated fromBowling Green State Universitywith a B.A. in 1948 and theUniversity of Chicagowith a M.A. in 1952. Neher served in the U.S. Army in 1943 and left in 1946. He was a personnel technician at the Department of the Navy from 1952 to 1954.

In 1954 he entered the U.S. Foreign Service as a consular officer inTurkey.He was economic and political officer in Algeria from 1957–1961, commercial officer inSouth Vietnamfrom 1962 to 1964 and inSyriafrom 1964 to 1968. He was arms policy officer in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in the State Department from 1966 to 1968. He was on detail to the Department of Defense as assistant, foreign military rights affairs, international security affairs, in 1968 - 1970. He was principal officer inZairefrom 1970 to 1972, deputy chief of mission inChadfrom 1972 to 1974, and counselor for political affairs in theDominican Republicfrom 1974 to 1977. In 1977, he was on detail to theEnvironmental Protection Agency(EPA) as assistant for plans and policies until 1979. In the State Department he was Staff Director of the Board of Examiners for the Foreign Service from 1979 to 1981, Inspector in the Office of the Inspector General in 1981, and Deputy Director of the Office of Analysis for Africa later on in 1981. In 1982, he was the Director of the Office of Analysis for Africa.

On June 18, 1984, he was nominated to be theUnited States Ambassador to Upper Voltaby PresidentRonald Reaganwhile he was a resident inMaryland.He remained in that post until August 1, 1987, where he was succeeded byDavid H. Shinn.

His foreign languages areSpanishandFrench.Neher died on May 11, 2015.

References

This article incorporatespublic domain materialfromU.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets.United States Department of State.