Kenneth Merton is a member of the Senior Diplomatic Service, Career Minister class. Until recently, he was acting Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Haiti. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Global Talent Management, and was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Merton has also served as ambassador to Croatia, ambassador to Haiti and deputy secretary of state. Among other appointments, he was an economic adviser at the US Embassy in Paris, France, an executive assistant in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and a senior observer at the State Department’s Operations Center.
Merton received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami at Oxford, Ohio, and his master’s degree from the American University in Washington, DC. He has won numerous awards, including the Grande Croix of Honor from the Haitian Government for Earthquake Support, the Ryan Crocker Award for Outstanding Leadership in Expeditionary Diplomacy, and the CORE Shandling Humanitarian Award. He speaks Haitian, Creole, French, German and Spanish.
