Consul General
Sheila S. Gwaltney, Consul General of the United States of America in St. Petersburg
Sheila Gwaltney is a member of the Department of State’s Senior Foreign Service.
Since joining the Department of State in 1984, Ms. Gwaltney has held a variety of positions. She has served as Deputy Director for the Office of Russian Affairs at the Department of State (1995-1998), as the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs (1998-1999), and as the Director of Country Affairs for Eurasia in the Office of the Coordinator for Assistance to Europe and Eurasia (2002-2004).
Overseas assignments include: Panama (1984-1986); Pretoria, South Africa (1987-1989); St. Petersburg, Russia (1992-1995).
She has served as Deputy Chief of Mission, at U.S. Embassies in Kyiv, Ukraine (2004-2007) and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (1999-2001).
Under the auspices of the Department of State, she also spent one year at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University (1990-1991).
Prior to arriving in St. Petersburg she served at the Department of State in Washington, DC, as the Senior Advisor in the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization.
Ms. Gwaltney graduated from the University of California at Davis with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations. She also holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Prior to joining the Department of State, Ms. Gwaltney worked for a private sector consulting firm in Washington, D.C. that facilitated professional exchanges for the U.S. Government, including important exchanges with the then Soviet Union.
She is the recipient of several Superior Honor and Meritorious Honor awards from the Department of State.
She speaks Russian, Ukrainian, and some Spanish.