Nancy McEldowney, nominated to be the next US ambassador in Sofia, was due to face a confirmation hearing by the senate committee on foreign relations at a sitting scheduled to be chaired by senator Barack Obama on April 8.

If confirmed, McEldowney, currently the deputy chief of mission in Ankara, will replace John Beyrle who reportedly has been tipped to become US ambassador in Moscow.

McEldowney became deputy chief of mission in Turkey in June 2005. Previously she was deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan. In her most recent Washington assignment, McEldowney served at the White House as director of European affairs on the national security council.
 
She has also served at the US embassies in Cairo, Egypt and Bonn, Germany. In addition, she was a member of the US delegation to the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks with the Soviet Union in Geneva, Switzerland.
 
Within the state department, Ms. McEldowney has worked in the office of Soviet affairs, the office of European security affairs, the front office of the European bureau and the office of the deputy secretary.  She has also served in the office of the secretary of defence at the Pentagon.

McEldowney completed her undergraduate studies at New College and has graduate degrees from Columbia University and the National Defense University.
 
She has won the state department’s Superior Honor Award on four occasions. She is also a recipient of the Sinclair Linguistic Award and the National War College’s Distinguished Writing Award.
 
A member of the Senior Foreign Service, McEldowney comes from Florida, is married to Tim Hayes, a retired Air Force pilot, and they have two daughters, Jessica and Alyssa.