Vestal Native To Be Sworn In As U.S. Ambassador

A woman who grew up in Broome County is about to become the United States Ambassador to seven Caribbean islands.

Linda Swartz Taglialatela graduated from Vestal High School in 1967. She continued her education at Broome Community College, SUNY Oneonta and Virginia Tech.

Taglialatela is to be sworn in Thursday as the Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Speaking on WNBF Radio's Binghamton Now from her State Department office in Washington, Taglialatela recounted memories of growing up in Vestal. She recalled a trip with the high school marching band to the nation's capital to participate in the Cherry Blossom Parade.

Taglialatela said "Washington just inspired me. It was a place I always wanted to go back to." After she finished her graduate work at Virginia Tech, she started working at the General Accounting Office. She moved to the State Department in 1979.

Since 2002, Taglialatela has been Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Human Resources. She was nominated by President Obama to be the ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean islands late last year.

The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Thursday morning. Taglialatela said she plans to start work in Barbados on January 28.

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