Ambassador Hans H. Hertell Bids Farewell to Merrie Blocker, Embassy’s Public Affairs Adviser

Ambassador Hans H. Hertell Bids Farewell to Merrie Blocker, Embassy’s Public Affairs Adviser

SANTO DOMINGO – The United States Ambassador to this country, Hans H. Hertell, offered a warm farewell in the residence of the diplomatic mission to Merrie Blocker, who since her arrival in the country in 1997 to date has performed her duties as Public Affairs Adviser of the diplomatic mission with great success.

During her stay in the Dominican Republic, Merrie Blocker worked hard to establish new ties and strengthen the existing ones between the Dominican Republic and the United Staes in the educational, cultural, and communications.

In remarks pronounced during the ceremony, Ambassador Hertell pointed out the great efforts that Mrs. Blocker made in this country in favor of education. In his remarks, the chief of the diplomatic mission explained that thanks to Mrs. Blocker´s thrust, “the Fulbright Scholarship Program…… which permits Dominicans to obtain Master´s degrees in the best United States universities……. increased the number of scholarship students from eight to twenty-four. This increase has made the Fulbright Program in the Dominican Republic a model program not just for the hemisphere, but for the rest of the world.”

Other projects to which Merrie Blocker gave all her energy were launching of a training program in the English language for some 3,000 teachers of the country´s public schools. At present these professionals are receiving training in English as a second language, in cooperation with the Dominican-American Cultural Institute in Santo Domingo and the Dominican-American Cultural Center in Santiago.

Another great project that Merrie Blocker promoted in this country was the accreditation process of at least one Dominican university in the United States of at least one Dominican university. As Ambassador Hertell explained in his remarks, “This is a dream which only a visionary like Merrie could imagine.” With accreditation, Dominican universities will be more competition internationally.

In the communications sector, Merrie Blocker´s presence was fundamental. With her support, many Dominican journalists were able to travel to the United States to participate in important training programs in the most diverse areas, while many benefitted from seminars and workshops which the Embassy´s Press Section sponsored.

Originally from New York City, Mrs. Blocker entered the Foreign Service in 1980. She has a Bachelor´s degree in American Studies from Reed College and a Master´s in Museum Administration from New York State University at Syracuse. Before entering her country´s diplomatic service, Mrs. Blocker worked as director of Pubic Programs and of the Cordova Museum´s School of Art in Lincoln, Massachusetts. She was also a consultant in the area of museums for the Organization of American States.

Before her arrival in the Dominican Republic she served in the U.S. missions in Bucharest, Rumania; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Porto Alegre, Brazil, and Havana, Cuba.

She is married to Architect Ricardo Merlo, originally from Argentina, and they have three children: Damian, Juana, and William.

The farewell ceremony was attended by representatives of the country´s cultural world and the communications media, as well as a large number of officials from the Dominican and United States governments.