US President Joe Biden nominates Kenneth Merton as US Ambassador to Bulgaria. If his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, he will replace Herro Mustafa, who has been in Bulgaria since 2019, the White House said.
Kenneth Merton is a member of the Senior Foreign Service, career minister grade. Until recently, he was the acting chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Haiti. Prior to that, he was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Global Talent Management, and before that he was Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Merton has also served as Ambassador to Croatia, Ambassador to Haiti, and as Deputy Executive Secretary of the State Department. Among his other assignments, Merton served as Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France, Executive Assistant in the State Department's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, and Senior Observer in the State Department's Operations Center.
Merton has a bachelor's degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and his master's degree from American University in Washington, D.C. He has received numerous awards, including the Grande Croix of Honor from the Haitian government for earthquake relief, the Ryan Crocker Award for outstanding leadership in expeditionary diplomacy, and the CORE Shandling Humanitarian Award. He is fluent in Haitian Creole, French, German and Spanish.