President George W. Bush has nominated James Howard Yellin '60 to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Burundi. Yellin is currently the Director of the Office of Central African Affairs at the State Department. He served as the Presidential Special Envoy to Africa's Great Lakes Region from 1999 to 2001, and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Burundi from 1995 to 1999. His other assignments include service as Consul General in Lubumbashi, Chief of the Economic Section in Rabat, and Chief of the Political Section in Beirut and Algiers. A former member of the U.S. Special Forces, Yellin holds a bachelor's degree from Hamilton College and a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.