U.S. Department of State

She was assigned as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in September 1997 and became Charge d?Affaires in December 1997, a post she held until December 1999. She completed her tour in Santo Domingo in July 2000.

Ambassador Watt was born in Tokyo, Japan and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1973 with a double major in history and Spanish, and received a Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico in 1975.

Entering the Foreign Service in 1976, Ms. Watt?s first assignment was in Managua, Nicaragua where she served as Vice Consul. She then served in a rotational position in London, England for two years. She was head of the visa section in San Jose, Costa Rica from 1980 to 1984, and was head of general services and personnel operations at the same post until 1986. Ms Watt served in Quito, Ecuador from 1986 to 1989, and was chief of post management operations in the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs at the Department of State from 1989 to 1992.

After Russian language training she became administrative officer at the American Embassy in Moscow, where she coordinated the incorporation of several government agencies into the Embassy, supervised the opening of the Consulate General in Yekaterinburg, and managed all personnel, financial management, general services and community liaison operations at the Embassy. She was Chairman of the Board of the Anglo American School in Moscow.

Ms. Watt was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service in 1994, and returned to Washington in 1995 as Deputy Executive Director of the Bureau of Inter-American (now Western Hemisphere) Affairs, where she was in charge of management operations for all the bureau?s Embassies and consulates.