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Joseph A. Mussomeli
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Adamo Mussomeli is an employee of the US Department of State and current Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Ambassador Mussomeli has an undeniable affinity for Cambodia, and has said that he has dreamt of going there "since he was a teenager."
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Ambassador Mussomeli's grandparents on both sides of the family immigrated to America from Sicily around the turn of the century. Joseph was born in New York City on May 26, 1952. His father, Mariano Mussomeli, was an officer in the US Army and served in both World War II and the Korean War. As such, Joseph moved around the US somewhat in his youth, and also lived for some time in Germany. By his highschool years, his family had settled down in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He graduated from Camden Catholic High School in 1970, going from there to Rutgers University for two years before taking time off to hitch-hike through Europe. Upon returning to the United States, he attended Trenton State College and graduated summa cum laude in 1975, earning a BA in Political Science. In 1978 he earned a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers Law School.
After law school, Ambassador Mussomeli spent some time working in the legal field, but after a few years decided to join the foreign service, which he entered in September 1980. His first overseas posting was in Cairo, Egypt as a general service officer (GSO). After that, he returned to Washington DC, where worked at the Department of State as staff assistant to the Undersecretary for Security Assistance. His next overseas assignment was in Manila, Philippines as a consular officer from 1984-1986, to which he would later return in 2002 as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM). Before that time, however, his tours included: North Korea Desk Officer (1986-1988), Senior Watch Officer (1989-1990), Economic Counselor in Colombo, Sri Lanka (1990-1992), Inspector for the Office of Inspector General (1992-1994), Political Counselor in Rabat, Morocco (1995-1998), Deputy Chief of Mission in Manama, Bahrain (1998-2001), and as a member of the Senior Seminar (2001-2002). During his second tour in the Philippines as DCM, Ambassor Mussomeli served as Charge d'Affaires for a year while the Ambassor, Frank Ricciardone, was away. On June 24, 2005, the United States Senate confirmed him as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Mr. Mussomeli has received several awards including two Superior Honor Awards, one Group Superior Honor Award, and two Meritorious Honor Awards.
Ambassador Mussomeli's spouse, Sharon Flack Mussomeli, is also a foreign service officer. They have three children: Isaac, age 22, Alexis, age 20, and Thomas, age 2.
Both Isaac and Alexis Mussomeli attended Middlebury College, their mother's alma mater, for their undergraduate education. Isaac Mussomeli graduated from Middlebury College in 2006, where he majored in psychology and minored in math and physics. He will enter the Bryn Mawr Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program in June of 2007. Alexis is currently a junior at Middlebury, studying linguistics and Italian, and was a student of the late linguist Mark R.V. Southern. Ambassador and Sharon Mussomeli met an infant Thomas at an orphanage in Manila, Philippines, and they shortly thereafter adopted him.
In his spare time, Ambassador Mussomeli enjoys writing poetry and short plays, going on walks, reading about history, and playing golf, an immensely popular sport in Cambodia.