Kenneth H. Merten (born 1961) is an American diplomat. Merten has served in various positions in the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

beginning in 1987, most notably as ambassador to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

from 2009 to 2012, ambassador to

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

from 2012 to 2015, and special coordinator for

from 2015 to 2017. From 2023 to 2025 was

United States ambassador to Bulgaria The United States ambassador to Bulgaria () is the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the United States to Bulgaria. Ambassadors Diplomatic agent Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary Ambassador extraordina ...

Early life

Merten was born in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Missouri, but moved to

Hudson, Ohio Hudson is a city in northern Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan area. John Brown made his first public vow to destroy slavery here and the ci ...

when he was twelve, and considers Hudson his home. He attended Hudson Junior High School and the

Walsh Jesuit High School Walsh Jesuit High School is a private, Catholic, co-educational college preparatory high school in the Jesuit tradition, located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, approximately south of Cleveland. Walsh's campus covers and is situated near the Cuyahog ...

and credits a history teacher named Mark Massa with being influential in his choice of career. Merten graduated from Walsh Jesuit in 1979, and went to

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

, where he graduated from in 1983 with a BA in diplomacy and foreign affairs. He has also studied at

Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; ; formally incorporated as ) is a Public university, public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II of Anjou, List of rulers of Provence, Count of ...

, the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

and the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Diplomatic career

Merten joined the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carr ...

in 1987. He holds the rank of Career Minister. Since then, he has served both at Department of State facilities in Washington, DC and international assignments. Prior to his appointment as ambassador to Haiti, his international experience consisted of assignments in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. He also served in Haiti as vice consul and economic counselor between 1988 and 1990 and between 1998 and 2000 respectively. In 2009, he was appointed to the position of ambassador to Haiti, and began his duties as such on 24 August 2009. In 2012, he was appointed to the position of ambassador to Croatia and began his duties as such on 30 October 2012. As Haiti Special Coordinator during the 2015-2016 Haitian presidential election Merten traveled to Haiti and spoke about an upcoming verification commission report on fraud in the election, saying "We hope it is very, very quick and does not change the results of the election" in April 2016. He was joined by other U.S. officials pushing for quickly accepted elections. He left the post in January 2017 during the presidential transition of Donald Trump. From 2017 to 2019, Merten served as the acting principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. From 2019 to 2022, he served as the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of the

Director General of the Foreign Service The director general of the Foreign Service is the designated manager of the United States Foreign Service. The director general is a current or former Foreign Service officer, appointed by the President of the United States, president, with t ...

; during 2021, he also served as the senior bureau official for the Bureau of Global Talent Management.

Nomination as U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria

On June 8, 2022, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

nominated Merten to serve as the United States ambassador to

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. On November 29, 2022, hearings on his nomination were held before the

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for authorizing and overseeing foreign a ...

. On December 7, 2022, the committee favorably reported the nomination to the Senate. On December 13, 2022, his nomination was confirmed in the Senate by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. He was sworn in by Acting Deputy Secretary John R. Bass on February 3, 2023, and presented his credentials to President

Rumen Radev Rumen Georgiev Radev (, born 18 June 1963) is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who has been the President of Bulgaria since 2017. Radev previously served as higher commander of the Bulgarian Air Force. He won the 2016 Bulgarian p ...

on April 7, 2023.

Honors and awards

In July 2012, President

Michel Martelly Michel Joseph Martelly (; born 12 February 1961) is a Haitian musician and politician who served as the 42nd president of Haiti from May 2011 until February 2016. On August 20, 2024, the United States sanctioned the former president for traffic ...

of Haiti awarded Merten with the

National Order of Honour and Merit The National Order of Honour and Merit () is the highest honour of merit awarded by the President of the Republic of Haiti. The Order was instituted on 28 May 1926 and is awarded in five grades to both Haitians and foreign nationals. The award ...

to the rank of Grand Cross for his diplomatic excellence and all his works done for Haiti.

Personal life

Merten is married to Susan Greenman Merten, with whom he has had two daughters, Caryl and Elisabeth. He speaks

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...

, French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

References

External links

Ambassador biography
Embassy of the United States Port-au-Prince Haiti * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Merten, Kenneth H. Ambassadors of the United States to Bulgaria Ambassadors of the United States to Croatia Ambassadors of the United States to Haiti 1961 births Living people Miami University alumni Diplomats from St. Louis United States special envoys United States Foreign Service personnel 21st-century American diplomats