Barr served as a career diplomat, having joined the
Department of State in 1979. She has held assignments in
Stockholm (1980),
Budapest (1982),
Nairobi (1985),
Khartoum (1989),
Ashgabat (1998), and
Kuala Lumpur, where she was Counselor for Management Affairs. Barr has also had domestic assignments in Washington, D.C, where she worked for the Department of State's Bureau of Personnel,
Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and the Bureau of International Organizations in the
UN Industrial Development Organization and the
World Tourism Organization. Barr was nominated as
U.S. Ambassador to Namibia by
President Bush and was confirmed by the
U.S. Senate. Ambassador Barr began her appointment on October 4, 2004. Barr has also participated in the Department of State Domestic Assignment Program, also known as the Pearson Program. This program was begun in the 1970s, where Foreign Service officers are assigned outside the department in order to develop their knowledge of foreign affairs legislation and of public concerns. As part of this assignment, she worked with Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Congressman
Bennie Thompson. On December 17, 2011, the
United States Senate confirmed Barr to be
Assistant Secretary of State for Administration. On January 26, 2017, when
Rex Tillerson,
Donald Trump's nominee for
United States Secretary of State, visited the
United States State Department, Barr,
Patrick F. Kennedy,
Michele Bond, and
Gentry O. Smith were all simultaneously asked to resign from the department. ==References==