Dennis B. Hankins
Dennis Bruce Hankins (born 1959) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Mali between 2019 and 2022. He is the current nominee to be the US Ambassador to Haiti. Early life and education Hankins earned a B.S.F.S. at Georgetown University and an M.S. at the National War College. Consular career Hankins joined the Foreign Service in 1984. His first overseas postings were as vice-consul in Recife, Brazil and then in the U.S. Embassy in Thailand. In 1989, Hankins was posted to Sudan and then in 1992, given the job of consul in Haiti. Four years later, Hankins was again posted to Africa to become the political and economic counselor in the Kinshasa embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, working there during the First Congo War and, for a lesser time, the Second Congo War. He moved to be the political and economic counselor in Lisbon, Portugal in 1999, spending just two years in the job before returning to Africa to be the deputy chief of mission in Maputo, Mozambique. In 2004, Hankins was appointed consul general in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia but was recalled to Washington to become the deputy director of the Office of Peacekeeping in the Bureau of International Organizations. He returned to Africa in 2007 to be deputy chief of mission in Nouakchott, Mauritania and, in 2010, returned to Khartoum, Sudan as the deputy chief of mission. Ambassadorships Ambassador to Guinea In 2012, Hankins was given the post of consul general in Sao Paulo, Brazil, staying in the post until his nomination as United States Ambassador to Guinea by President Obama on July 8, 2015. He was confirmed by the Senate on October 22 the same year. Ambassador to Mali On 13 August 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Hankins to be the U.S. Ambassador to Mali. The nomination was tendered to the Senate on August 16, 2018, and he was confirmed on January 2, 2019. He presented his credentials to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta on March 15, 2019. Ambassador nominee to Haiti On May 19, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Hankins to be the next ambassador to Haiti. His nomination is pending before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Personal life Hankins has a wife, Mira, and a son, Danu, who works for the U.S. Navy. He speaks French, Portuguese, and Indonesian. References |- 1959 births Living people Georgetown University alumni United States Foreign Service personnel National War College alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Guinea Ambassadors of the United States to Mali 21st-century American diplomats