Ambassador-Designate Vinai Thummalapally Arrives in Belize

September 19, 2009

Ambassador-Designate Vinai Thummalapally

Today, U.S. Ambassador-Designate Vinai Thummalapally arrived at the Philip Goldson International Airport and was met by Deputy Chief of Mission J.A. Diffily and Management Officer Sharon Featherstone.

The Ambassador-Designate greeted the Belizean media with a message of goodwill to the Belizean people and promised continued cooperation with the Belizean Government. The Ambassador-Designate will present his credentials to the Governor General later this week.

Prior to his appointment as Ambassador, Mr. Thummalapally, from Colorado, was the President of MAM-A Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of recordable optical discs. Prior to his role at MAM-A Inc., he served as the plant manager for Mitsui Advanced Media Inc., which also manufactures recordable optical discs.

He has served in several other similar roles in his 31-year career, including as General Manager for WEA Manufacturing, as a Managing Partner of Clines Office Products, and as Manufacturing Manager of Disc Manufacturing, Inc.

He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from California State University and completed post graduate courses in Business Administration. Mr. Thummalapally speaks Telugu, Hindi, and Urdu. He is married to Barbara Thummalapally and has two children.

Ambassador Thummalapally was nominated by President Obama on June 11, 2009 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 23, 2009.