Although a small island country only 260 square miles in size, Singapore is home to 4.2 million people—and at least one of them is an alumna. Last fall, the Bush Administration appointed Patricia Herbold, a 1962 Edgecliff graduate, as the U.S. Ambassador to the country. Herbold’s political experience includes memberships on several Cincinnati councils and a stint as the mayor of Montgomery before moving to Bellevue, Wash., in 1994 with her husband, the COO for Microsoft Corp.

In Washington, Herbold served as chairperson of the King County Republican Party, helped found a national fund-raising group for pro-growth conservatives and served on Bush’s finance committee. The American Embassy in Singapore employs more than 130 U.S. citizens and an almost as many Singaporeans, and it’s Herbold’s responsibility to ensure the safety of all Americans living there.

“The U.S. has strong diplomatic, military and economic ties in Singapore,” Herbold says. “As the President’s personal representative, it is my job to strengthen our bilateral relationships, to work with the Singapore government on key issues, and promote and increase American business interests.”