Ambassador
Ambassador Frederick B. Cook
Frederick B. Cook was sworn in as ambassador to the Central African Republic on July 27, 2007. He presented his credentials to President François Bozize on August 27, 2007.
Prior to his arrival in Bangui, Mr. Cook was assigned as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, a US military force based at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti. His previous overseas assignment had been as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.
Joining the Foreign Service in 1972, Mr. Cook has served in Africa, the Western Hemisphere, and Washington, serving in all Foreign Service disciplines except Economics and Public Diplomacy. A Management Officer, he has served as Management Officer in La Paz, Bolivia, Havana, Cuba, Gaborone, Botswana, and Monrovia, Liberia. Washington assignments have included Deputy Director of Information Resources Management in the Executive Secretariat, Labor Advisor for the Bureau of African Affairs and Systems Development Officer for the Office of Overseas Buildings.
Born in Washington, D.C., Mr. Cook was raised in the Foreign Service, living in India, Jordan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in history from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. Mr. Cook’s foreign languages are Spanish and French.
Mr. Cook is married to the former Miss Denise Pollard of Portsmouth, England, the daughter of a retired Royal Navy officer. They met in Douala, Cameroon, where she was serving as a translator for the Pan African Institute for Development. Ms. Cook has also worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of State, and the former U.S. Information Service. They have two children, a daughter who teaches primary education in New York City and a son in the US Army.