Nomination of John Blanc To Be United States Ambassador to Chad

The President today announced his intention to nominate John Blanc, of Illinois, to be Ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of Chad. He would succeed Jay P. Moffat.

Mr. Blanc served in the United States Army in 1953-1955. He entered the Foreign Service in 1956 and was vice consul in Mogadishu (1957), in Asmara (1958-1960), and in Salzburg (1960-1962). He attended Northwestern University in 1962-1963. He was political officer in Yaounde, Camcroon, in 1963-1966. He then returned to the Department as country officer for Togo, Dahomey, Chad, and Gabon (1966-1968) and Acting Director of Research for Northern and Eastern Africa in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research in 1968-1969. Mr. Blanc was deputy chief of mission in Ft. Lamy, Chad, in 1969-1972. In 1973-1975 he was Director, Inter-African Affairs, in the Department. He was on detail as Director of Bilateral Programs Division of the Office of International Activities at the Environmental Protection Agency in 1975-1977. He was deputy chief of mission in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1977-1980 and a member of the executive seminar in national and international affairs at the Foreign Service Institute in 1980-1981. In 1981 he was a member of the United States delegation to the 36th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Mr. Blanc was special Charge d'Affaires in N'Djamena, Chad, in 1982. He was then appointed Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda in September of 1982 and has served there until the present time.

He graduated from the University of Tennessee (B.A., 1951; M.A., 1956). In 1952-1953 he attended the University of Vienna. His foreign languages are German and French. He is married to the former Dianne Metzger, and they have two children.