A three-time Ambassador, Kenneth Merten holds the rank of Career Minister at the United States Department of State. From January 2019 to January 2021 Mr. Merten was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Director General of the Foreign Service. He held the responsibilities of Acting Director General of the Foreign Service from January 2021 to October 2021, after which he served as Chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti for six months.

From January 2017 until November 2018, he was the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. He was the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia, from 2012 to August 2015, and prior to that served as the United States Ambassador to Haiti from 2009 to July 2012. He also served as a Deputy Executive Secretary to U.S. Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of State Rice. He was awarded the 2011 Ryan C. Crocker Award for Outstanding Leadership in Expeditionary Diplomacy for his extraordinary leadership in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Mr. Merten’s overseas assignments include the U.S. Embassy in Paris, the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels, the U.S. Embassy in Bonn at the time of German unification, and four tours at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Mr. Merten holds a B.A. from Miami University in Ohio, and a Masters in Public Administration from American University in Washington, DC.