The Pomerantz Center will host U.S. State Department Diplomat in Residence for the Midwest Melissa Martinez on Monday, January 29. Martinez will host visiting hours from 3-5 p.m. in room C330 in the Pomerantz Center, where she will be available to meet informally with students and alumni interested in State Department opportunities. Martinez will also give a presentation from 7-8 p.m. in room W207 in the Pappajohn Business Building. 

Melissa Martinez is a media and communications professional with over fifteen years of international and domestic experience. In addition to her work as a diplomat in residence, Martinez served as the deputy press attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. Martinez is also the director of the Media Hub of the Americas for Latin American and Caribbean media based in Florida.

Previous foreign service assignments include press attaché at the U.S. Embassy San Jose, Costa Rica, policy officer for Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America with the Bureau of International Information Programs in Washington D.C., consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, and deputy public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay.

In 2002, Martinez received a Master's Degree from Columbia University's School of International Public Affairs.