Raymond George Hardenbergh Seitz (born December 8, 1940) is a former career diplomat and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 8, 1940. He is the son of United States Army Major General John F. R. Seitz (d. 1978) and Helen (Hardenbergh) Seitz (d. 1953). He graduated from Yale University in 1963 with a BA in history, following which he spent two years teaching in Dallas, Texas. He joined the US Foreign Service in 1966. He was the first career diplomat in modern history to be made Ambassador to the UK – the post is usually given to a political appointee. Career His first posting was in Montreal, Quebec, Canada as Consular Officer. In 1968 he was assigned to Nairobi, Kenya as Political Officer, serving concurrently as Vice-Consul in the Seychelle Islands. After two years as Principal Officer in Bukavu, Zaire, he returned to the State Department in 1972 to be appointed Director of the Secretariat Staff under Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. He subsequently served as Special Assistant to the Director General of the Foreign Service. In 1975 he was assigned for the first time to the US Embassy in London as First Secretary. In 1978 he received the Director General's Award for Reporting. He returned to Washington 1979 as Deputy Executive Secretary to the Department of State, serving in the offices of Secretaries of State Vance, Muskie and Haig. In October 1981, he became Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. In July 1982, Secretary of State George Shultz appointed him Executive Assistant to the Secretary of State. Three years later, he returned to the London Embassy as Minister. In 1986 and 1988 he received the Presidential Award for Meritorious Service. President Bush nominated him as Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Canada in June 1989. He served in this capacity until his nomination by the President as ambassador. On completion of his term as Assistant Secretary of State, the Federal Republic of Germany conferred on Ambassador Seitz the Knight Commander's Cross. He was sworn in as ambassador to the Court of St. James's, by Secretary of State James Baker on April 25, 1991, and presented his credentials to Queen Elizabeth II on June 25, 1991. On May 10, 1994, he simultaneously resigned from his post as ambassador, and from the US Foreign Service, following a career of 28 years. Seitz