United States Ambassador to Turkey Nomination of James W. Spain.

The President today announced that he will nominate James W. Spain, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Turkey. He would replace Ronald I. Spiers, who is resigning. Spain was Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania from 1975 until earlier this year.

He was born July 22, 1926, in Chicago, Ill. He received an M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1949 and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1959. He served in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1947.

Spain was a consultant to the Secretary of the Army in Tokyo from 1949 to 1950 and cultural officer in Karachi from 1951 to 1953. From 1953 to 1955, he was a research fellow with the Ford Foundation, and from 1955 to 1963, he was a research lecturer at Columbia University.

Spain was a member of the policy planning staff at the State Department in 1963 and 1964 and Director of the Office of Research and Analysis for Near East-South Asian Affairs from 1964 to 1966. From 1966 to 1969, he was country director for Pakistan and Afghanistan, and in 1969 he was Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad.

From 1970 to 1972, Spain was consul general in Istanbul. From 1972 to 1974, he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Ankara. In 1974-75 he was diplomat in residence at Florida State University.