U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday announced the appointment of Dr. J. Peter Pham to serve as the United States Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Pham would be responsible for coordinating the implementation of U.S. policy on the cross-border security, political, and economic issues in the Great Lakes region, said the department spokesperson Heather Nauert in a statement.

The statement said that Pham would work in close coordination with the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs and our ambassadors in the region to further the Department's work toward lasting peace, stability, and economic prosperity in the Great Lakes region.

According to the statement, Pham served as vice president and director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. He was former vice president of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA), and an associate professor of Africana studies at James Madison University. He also worked on the Senior Advisory Group of the U.S. Africa Command.