Troy Fitrell, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister Counselor, is the Senior Bureau Official leading the Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs. He recently served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea. He previously held positions as Director of the Offices of West African Affairs and Southern African Affairs, as Chargé d’Affaires and as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassies in Ethiopia and Mauritius, and as Deputy Director of the Office of International Security Cooperation in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.

He served as a Pearson Fellow on the staff of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was a Watch Officer in the Department’s Nuclear Risk Reduction Center. He also served overseas at the U.S. embassies in Portugal, Guatemala, Zambia, Ghana, and Denmark. Fitrell earned a B.A. at the University of Maryland and an M.S. at the National War College. He is the recipient of a Presidential Rank Award, the Cobb Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development, the Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Labor Affairs, and numerous superior and meritorious awards. He speaks French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Swedish.