Quick Facts
Biography
Donald J. Planty (born 1945) is an American diplomat. He served as United States Ambassador to Guatemala from 1996 to 1999. He is currently a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group.
Biography
Early life
Donald Planty was born in Lowville, New York in 1945. He graduated from Fordham University in 1966 and received an M.A. in Political Science from the University of New Mexico in 1970. In 1964, while at Fordham, he attended the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, Chile on a Fulbright-Hays grant. At UNM, he was a teaching assistant in the Peace Corps Training Center for Latin America.
Career
In 1967, he started his career as a caseworker for the New York City Department of Social Services. He was Ambassador-in-residence at the National War College in Washington, D.C. from 1984 to 1985. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala from 1996 to 1999, facilitating the 1996 Peace Accords.
Personal life
He has three sons: Reverend Donald J. Planty, Jr. (who teaches at Christendom College), Matthew, and Mark.