Genta Hawkins Holmes, during her thirty-six year career in the Foreign Service, served as the United States Ambassador to Australia, Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Personnel, the first United States Ambassador to Namibia and as Assistant Administrator of Legislative Affairs at the Agency for International Development. She served as Deputy Chief of Mission in South Africa, Haiti and Malawi. Other overseas assignments include The Bahamas, Paris and the Ivory Coast.

Ambassador Holmes was a Diplomat-in-Residence at the University of California at Davis, a member of the 25th Senior Seminar, and was a Congressional Fellow with the American Political Science Assoc.

Mrs. Holmes earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations (magna cum laude) from the University of Southern California where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She pursued graduate studies in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science on a Rotary International Fellowship.

A recipient of the Department’s Superior Honor Award, she also holds a presidential award and received the University of Southern California’s Alumni Merit award. She speaks French and is married to Michael Dayton Holmes.