Ambassador Jennifer Zimdahl Galt ’81
Mongolia is more than 6,000 miles away from Colorado, but Jennifer Zimdahl Galt already feels at home.
In May 2015, President Barack Obama nominated her as ambassador to Mongolia and, a few months later, the U.S. Senate confirmed her. In late September, the longtime Foreign Service officer and her family headed to the country wedged between Russia and China.
“Mongolia is a fascinating country that in many ways reminds me of Colorado,” she says via email from Ulaanbaatar, the capital.
“It has wide open grasslands, snow-capped mountains, vast blue horizons and endless sunshine. Mongolia and Colorado share the same boast — more than 300 sunny days a year.”
But Galt was in the midst of a cold winter when she wrote in late January. Ulaanbaatar is a bustling city, she says. The 25-year-old parliamentary democracy is sparsely populated with a total of three million people in a country the size of Alaska.
Mongolia’s citizens speak Mongolian and the written language uses the Cyrillic alphabet. English is gradually replacing Russian as the second language.
Galt, who hails from Fort Collins, Colorado, earned her master’s in international relations and economics from Johns Hopkins University in 1983 and a master’s of science from National Defense University in 2008. Her first foreign assignment was as assistant cultural affairs officer in the U.S. embassy in Belgrade, in the former Yugoslavia, in 1989.
Assignments in Taiwan, India, China, NATO headquarters in Belgium, and Washington, D.C. followed. Galt began studying French at CC and has added Mandarin Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and Serbo-Croatian to her repertoire. Now, she’s studying Mongolian.
“Speaking these languages has enabled me to communicate directly with people in the countries where I’ve served and traveled,” Galt says.
She knew early in life so live all over the world, but couldn’t figure out how to combine her passions for medicine and world travel while paying off her student loans.
Thanks to the Block Plan, she was able to “shift gears” late in her sophomore year.
“I went to CC as a pre-med major and wound up changing paths and creating my own major, combining history, political science, and languages,” Galt says. “The quality of the teaching at CC and the opportunity to engage with world-class professors like Tim Fuller and Susan Ashley prepared me for a lifetime of learning and critical thinking.”
She also forged lifelong friendships at CC and says the school is still a vital part of her life.
Galt has loved her Foreign Service career, but admits it can be difficult at times.
“I enjoy the challenge of learning new languages and cultures and tackling a new job every two or three years, but moving families, keeping spouses gainfully employed, and changing kids’ schools are not easy. It is also difficult, as parents age, to stay in touch living 15 times zones away.”
Galt and her husband, writer Frederick “Fritz” Galt, have two children: Phoebe, 20, and Dylan, 17, who’ve spent most of their lives overseas.
As ambassador to Mongolia, Galt’s main focus is on strengthening the economic ties between Mongolia and the United States, enhancing the already strong military partnership, and building people-to-people ties. She’s already founded a Young Leaders program to connect with the next generation of Mongolian leaders. She’s especially proud of her role encouraging younger women to aspire to leadership positions.“I believe in the power of diplomacy and feel strongly that effective communication to enhance mutual understanding helps build the foundation for productive, forward-looking bilateral relationships around the world.”
Want to keep up with Galt’s activities in Mongolia? Follow her on Twitter: @USAmbMongolia.
