The Washington Diplomat

Appointments - October 2009

The Bahamas
Nicola Virgill-Rolle assumed the position of economic attaché in September.

Thailand
Nicholaos Manolis assumed the position of political counselor on Aug. 1, replacing Solon Savva, who became deputy chief of mission.

Solon Savva assumed the position of deputy chief of mission on Aug. 1, replacing Yannis Michaelides, who departed the post on July 31. Savva previously served as political counselor at the embassy since Sept. 1, 2008.

Hungary
Zoltan Arpad Nagy assumed the position of counselor on Aug. 31.

Andras Juhasz departed the post of second secretary on July 15.

Lithuania
Deimante Bartkiene assumed the position of third secretary on Sept. 1.

Nida Dalmantaite departed the post of first secretary on Aug. 1.

Leonas Garbacauskas assumed the position of second secretary on Sept. 1, replacing Arunas Spurga, who departed the post on Aug. 13.

Dalia Kadisiene departed the post of minister-counselor on Aug. 1.

Keystyna Kazakeviciene assumed the position of chief officer on Sept. 1.

Antanas Pazarauskas departed the post of counselor on June 1.

Nepal
Ananda Prasad Sharma assumed the position of first secretary on Sept. 1, replacing Harischandra Ghimire, who departed the post on Aug. 27.

New Zealand
Ben King assumed the position of counselor (trade and economic) on July 21, replacing Peter Ferguson, who departed the post on June 30. King transferred to the embassy from headquarters in Wellington, where he managed New Zealand’s international engagement on intellectual property, including as lead negotiator for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and capital-based senior official for the World Trade Organization’s TRIPs Council. King also previously served at the New Zealand Embassy in Riyadh and the New Zealand High Commission in Canberra.

Malaysia
Dato’ Sri Dr. Jamaludin Jarjis has been appointed ambassador of Malaysia to the United States. Ambassador Jamaludin first joined the Cabinet as second finance minister in 2002, later serving as minister of domestic trade and consumer affairs and then as minister of science, technology and innovation, a position he held until March 2008. Prior to joining the Cabinet, he was chairman of Tenaga Nasional Berhad, the national power utility company, before which he was executive vice chairman of EPE Power Corp. He was also chairman of both the Public Accounts Committee and of the Parliament Backbenchers Club. Ambassador Jamaludin started his career as a lecturer at the University Technology Malaysia in 1974, leaving in 1984 to start his own consultancy services, J&A Associates, which specialized in electrical power and mechanical engineering. Ambassador Jamaludin has also been a member of Parliament for the constituency of Rompin, Pahang, since 1990 and an elected member of the UMNO Supreme Council since May 2000. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Manchester’s Institute of Science and Technology (UMNIST) in Britain, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Manitoba in Canada, and a doctorate in electrical engineering (power system) from the University of McGill in Canada. He is married to Dr. Kalsom Ismail, a dentist, and they have four children.