Joan V. Smith is the new consul general of the United States in the Dominican Republic. Linda Watts, charge d’affairs of the US Embassy (the US government has not appointed an ambassador), presented her last week. Smith replaces Edwin Cubbinson who has been the consul general since August 1997. This is Smith’s second appointment in the DR. From 1980-1982 she was in charge of the visas section of the Santo Domingo consulate. She is a native of North Carolina, and grew up in Washington, D.C. She has served in France, Turkey, Ireland, Singapour, Korea, Canada, Haiti and in Washington, D.C. She has been a senior member of the US foreign service since 1996. She studied at the Catholic University of America, Columbia University, Université Sorbonne, and Chapman University. She has a 17-year old son.
