Ambassador (ret’d) Michael Pelletier is the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Global Engagement at the University of Houston, where he leads UH’s comprehensive internationalization efforts.

Previously, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros from 2019 to 2021. Ambassador Pelletier retired as a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, having served as an American diplomat from 1987-2021. He was Dean of the School of Professional and Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, and served at eight U.S. Missions overseas and in senior leadership positions at the U.S. Department of State, including as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in India and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs.

Ambassador Pelletier earned a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University, a Certificat d’Etudes Politiques from Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris, France, and a M.I.A. from Columbia University. He received thirteen senior State Department awards, including a Presidential Meritorious Service Award and the Linguist of the Year. He is fluent in English, French, and Arabic.

Ambassador Pelletier serves on the board of Amideast, a leading American nonprofit organization engaged in international education activities in the Middle East and North Africa. He is a member of the Board of Directors of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Texas Advisory Committee of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and the Public Diplomacy Council of America.