Indian-American Farah Pandith, the first-ever US Special Representative to Muslim Communities, has left her post to join Harvard University.
"On so many issues, Farah Pandith has been a trailblazer and a visionary. She travelled to more than 80 countries and launched critically important youth programmes, including Generation Change, Viral Peace, and the Hours Against Hate campaign," Secretary of State John Kerry said as the State Department announced the Kashmir-born diplomat's departure yesterday.
Pandith always placed people above politics and performed groundbreaking work since her appointment in June 2009 as the first Special Representative to Muslim Communities by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he said.
Kerry listed the 46-year-old Pandith's many achievements. "It's in her DNA as a first-generation immigrant who achieved historic firsts for America, from changing the way our embassies engage with Muslim communities in Europe to getting a Quran placed in the White House Library," he said.
Pandith earlier served as Chief of Staff of the Bureau for Asia and the Near East at USAID, Director for Middle East Regional Initiatives at the National Security Council, and Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
After Pandith's departure, her deputy Adnan Kifayat will serve as the acting Special Representative until a permanent replacement is named, Kerry said.
Noting that Pandith had done a lot to bring people of different backgrounds together, he said she combined "thoughtfulness, balance, and sheer guts and determination".
"I am deeply grateful for Farah's invaluable contributions as our Special Representative to Muslim Communities and wish her and her family well as she pursues an exciting new opportunity at Harvard University's Institute of Politics," Kerry said.
