Congress appointed Marianne Matuzic Myles '75 as U.S. ambassador to the African island nation of Cape Verde June 4.

"For me it's a very special thing, something I've been working toward my entire career," said Myles, who has worked in the U.S. Department of State for more than 30 years.

Myles was most recently director of the Office of Recruitment, Examination and Employment. The economics major was encouraged to apply for a government position by her mother because of the job security, she said.

Myles' interest in foreign service was helped by her experience as an exchange student in Ecuador while attending high school and a year abroad at the University of Madrid while attending Oswego. Her career has taken her to such locales as Brazil, Columbia and Italy.

"I never expected that 30 years later I would still be in the business, let alone become an ambassador," Myles said, likening the job title to a chief executive officer position at a private corporation.

Myles will be responsible for overseeing the U.S. Embassy in Cape Verde, a nation of about 500,000 people located about 300 miles off the west coast of Africa in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. The embassy serves visiting Americans and works with Cape Verde government on economic development projects and policies, among other functions.

The Buffalo-area native still keeps in close contact with Oswego Professor Emeritus Richard Hyse.

"When I received the phone call that I was being considered for that nomination, I was actually visiting Oswego" last July, Myles said. "That was a very exciting day."

Myles will spend the next three years in Cape Verde beginning at the end of the month. She currently lives near Washington, D.C., with her husband, Stanley, and 13-year-old daughter, Lee-Ellen.

-- Shane M. Liebler

PHOTO CAPTION:
Marianne Matuzic Myles '75 is the U.S. Ambassador to the African nation of Cape Verde. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of State)

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