TEGUCIGALPA – The Ambassador to the Republic of Honduras James D. Nealon arrived in Tegucigalpa this Wednesday, August 13. After his confirmation by the United States Senate as Ambassador on July 15, 2014, he was sworn in on August 11, 2014. He will present his credentials to President Juan Orlando Hernandez in the days ahead.
Ambassador Nealon most recently served as the Civilian Deputy to the Commander of U.S. Southern Command from September 2013 to August 2014. Previously, Ambassador Nealon was Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada from 2010 to 2013, Deputy Chief of Mission in Lima, Peru from 2007 to 2010, and Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in Montevideo, Uruguay from 2005 to 2007.
Previous Foreign Service assignments also included Counselor for Public Affairs at the Embassies in Madrid, Spain and Budapest, Hungary; Press Attaché at the Embassies in Manila, Philippines and Budapest, Hungary; Cultural Attaché in Montevideo, Uruguay; and Assistant Press Attaché in Santiago, Chile. Ambassador Nealon also served in the United States Information Agency’s Bureau of Human Resources in Washington, DC.
Ambassador Nealon is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor. He has received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and several other awards for outstanding performance.
A native of Virginia, Ambassador Nealon holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Brown University and completed additional graduate work in history at Boston College. Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1984, he was a high school history teacher. He speaks Hungarian and Spanish.
Ambassador Nealon and his wife Kristin, a teacher of English as a Second Language, have four grown children.
