Nepal Foreign Affairs (Kathmandu, August 6)–The US upper house Senate on Thursday confirmed the nomination of Alaina B. Teplitz as the next US ambassador to Nepal, officials said.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, U.S. Department of State, Nisha Biswal, congratulated Teplitz for her endorsement as the next US ambassador to Nepal.
According to Biswal, Teplitz, Sheila Gwaltney, Atul Keshap and David Hale have been confirmed as the US Ambassadors for Nepal, Kyrgyz Republic, Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively.
Earlier on March 25, US President Barack Obama nominated Teplitz as the next US envoy to Nepal.
Teplitz is currently serving as the director of the Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation at the Department of State. Teplitz joined the Under Secretary for Management’s Office of Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation (M/PRI) at the Department of State in 2012.
As a career Foreign Service Officer occupying an Assistant Secretary-ranked position, Teplitz advises on management policy and chief-of-mission authority issues, as well as managing rightsizing of the U.S. Government overseas presence, coordinating regionalization, engaging in business process reengineering, and improving shared services. Teplitz chairs the interagency International Cooperative Administrative Support Services Executive Board, focusing on ensuring cost effective delivery of management services overseas.
Prior to leading M/PRI, Teplitz was Minister Counselor for Management at U.S. Embassy Kabul from 2011-2012. She managed a team providing the diplomatic platform for U.S. Government Chief of Mission civilian activities in Afghanistan and planning for the impact of the eventual military force reduction.
Teplitz also served as the Deputy Executive Director of the Near East and South and Central Asia Bureau’s joint executive office from 2009-2011, where she handled the South and Central Asia portfolio, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Teplitz was the Director of the Management Training Division at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute from 2007-2009. Previous assignments include Management Counselor in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Deputy Director of the Joint Administrative Services supporting three U.S. Missions — the U.S. Mission to NATO, the U.S. Mission to the European Union, and the Embassy to the Kingdom of Belgium — in Brussels, Belgium. Her previous posts also include: Ulaanbaatar, Tirana, and Sydney.
Teplitz gained her other Washington-based experience as a Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Administration and as a Program Analyst in the Bureau of Administration. She served a tour as a Watch Officer in the Operations Center.
In Belgium, Teplitz worked closely with USEURAR to coordinate crisis response and to develop and implement a crisis management exercise. In addition, Teplitz worked extensively on establishing a quality management program at the Joint Administrative Services to better manage resources and to improve efficiency.
As Director of Management Tradecraft training she led an extensive curricula update to ensure the skills and knowledge needed to support the State Department’s quality management efforts were incorporated into management training. Currently, Teplitz champions efforts to improve knowledge management, the use of data, and risk management.
A member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor, she joined the State Department in 1991 and is the recipient of numerous Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards. Teplitz holds a BSFS from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.