Karen Pierce

Karen Pierce, born on September 23, 1959, is a British diplomat and currently serves as the British Ambassador to the United States at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. She previously held the position of Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations. Pierce was born in Preston, Lancashire and is the granddaughter of Preston millworkers. She attended Penwortham Girls' High School and Girton College, Cambridge, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English. Pierce joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1981 and has had postings in Tokyo and Washington, D.C. She holds an MSc degree in International Strategy and Diplomacy from the London School of Economics (LSE), which she obtained in 2012.