United States Ambassador to Venezuela Nomination of William H. Luers.

The President today announced that he will nominate William H. Luers of Illinois as Ambassador to Venezuela. He would succeed Viron P. Vaky, who has been appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.

Mr. Luers was born May 15, 1929, in Springfield, Ill. He received a B.A. in 1951 from Hamilton College and an M.A. in 1957 from Columbia University. He served in the United States Navy as a lieutenant from 1952 to 1956.

He entered the Foreign Service in 1957 as consular officer in Naples. He was international relations officer in the State Department from 1960 to 1962. In 1962 and 1963, he attended Russian language and area studies at the Foreign Service Institute at Oberammergau, and from 1963 to 1965, he was political officer in Moscow. He returned to the State Department from 1965 to 1969, serving first as intelligence research specialist and then as international relations officer. From 1969 to 1973, he was political officer and then counselor for political affairs in Caracas. In 1973 he served as Deputy Director of the Office of Soviet Union Affairs at the State Department, and from 1973 to 1975, he was Deputy Executive Secretary of the Executive Secretariat. From 1975 to 1977, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs.

Since 1977 he has been Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs.