Florence welcomes new Consul General

The newest U.S. Consul General in Florence, Nora Dempsey, has arrived and assumed her new duties. Ms. Dempsey is a seasoned member of the State Department diplomatic corps. She is not new to Italy as she was stationed in Rome from 1996 -1999, where she frequently joined Secretary Albright for negotiations in the Middle East, as well as special missions in Rambouillet, Kabul and Dar Es Salaam after the bombings. In August 1999 she became Director of African Affairs at the National Security Council, which she left to pursue Arabic language training. She has spent the last three years as Consul in Tunis, Tunisia. Ms. Dempsey is from Pennsylvania, holds degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University, speaks French, Italian and Arabic, and has seven years-old twins.