Ambassador Donald S. Hays arrived in Sarajevo today to take up his duties as the new Principal Deputy High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He replaces Ambassador Ralph R. Johnson, who is to assume an executive post in the private sector.
The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, wishes to express his gratitude to Ambassador Johnson for his invaluable efforts in helping to establish a sustained peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in promoting the institutional aspects of economic reform and in further developing the country’s crucial relationship with international financial agencies. He would like to extend his best wishes to Ambassador Johnson with regard to his future endeavors.
Ambassador Hays has been a US diplomat for almost three decades. Before his appointment to OHR he was posted to the US Mission to the United Nations, as Ambassador in charge of UN Management Reform. Previously he had served in the State Department as the Director of the Office of Management Policy and Planning and as the Executive Director of the European Affairs Bureau. He has also been posted to US embassies in Bonn, Islamabad, Dakar, Freetown (Sierra Leone), andetown (Sierra Leone), and Saigon.
Ambassador Hays graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a BA Magna cum Laude in Political Science. He has also studied at Georgetown and Princeton Universities. He served in the US Army, and was posted to Vietnam in 1968 – 70. Ambassador Hays is married with two children.