10 September 2013

US Ambassador to Norway goes home

King Harald of Norway will grant the US Ambassador to Norway, Barry B. White, a farewell audience on Monday 16 September 2013, the list of official engagements at the Royal Court's website reveals. Mr. White is to leave his post within a month, the US Embassy in Oslo has informed me via its Twitter account. No successor has yet been named. The normal procedure is that the Deputy Chief of Mission, will be in charge until the new ambassador is in place. The person who holds the position at the moment is Julie Furuta-Toy.

Ambassador White was confirmed by the US Senate on 22 September and sworn in on 21 October 2009, before being formally accredited Ambassador to Norway in November 2009. He has travelled a lot in Norway during his years here and seems to have been well received everywhere. I had a short chat with him at the election gala at the Grand Hotel in Oslo last year. Of course at that time he had no idea what the future had in store for him. It will be exciting to see who President Obama will nominate. I think it would be rather nice to have a Norwegian-American Ambassador, at least because it would give me an opportunity to trace his or her roots!

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