US President Biden nominates new ambassadors to Sudan, South Sudan

US President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate John Godfrey and Michael Adler for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Sudan and South Sudan respectively.

A statement by the White House briefing room on Wednesday, introduces President Biden’s nominees for key diplomatic roles in his administration.

John Godfrey, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of the Sudan, is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, is currently the Acting Counterterrorism Coordinator and the Acting Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in the Counterterrorism Bureau at the US Department of State.

Previously, he was the Principal Deputy Coordinator in the Counterterrorism Bureau and before that, the Bureau’s Deputy Coordinator for Regional and Multilateral Affairs. Godfrey has served as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and Political Counselor at the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State.

Godfrey’s other assignments include serving as Arms Control Counselor to the US Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna, as Deputy Political Counselor (Northern Affairs) at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, and as Political and Economic Counselor at the US Embassy in Tripoli, Libya.

Earlier in his career, he served as Political and Economic Counselor at the US Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and as a Political/Consular Officer at the US Embassy in Damascus, Syria. Godfrey earned a Bachelor’s Degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Master’s Degree in Middle East Studies at the University of Michigan. He speaks Arabic.

Michael Adler

Michael Adler, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of South Sudan is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, with over three decades of experience. Most recently, he has served on the National Security Council (NSC) staff as the Deputy Senior Director for South Asia and before that, the Director for Afghanistan.

Before joining the NSC staff, Adler served as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs at the State Department. He also held assignments in the State Department as Director of the Office of Afghanistan Affairs, Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and in the Bureaus of Political Military Affairs and Near Eastern Affairs.

His overseas assignments have included service as Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassies in Lebanon and Kuwait, as Political Counselor at the US Embassy in Afghanistan, and in Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, and Qatar. Adler earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Pomona College and a Master’s Degree from Stanford University.