Katherine Canavan

Katherine Hubay Smith Peterson Canavan (born 1949) served as a United States diplomat and career foreign service officer for 35 years.

She retired in November 2011 and has since supported a number of military courses and exercises as a subject matter expert and role player, particularly when they involve an ambassador, country team and the interagency.

Canavan entered the Foreign Service in 1976, after serving nearly three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Returning to the department in late 1981, Canavan worked briefly in the Office of Caribbean Affairs before starting the five-month Mid-Level Course in February 1982.

Building on her initial experience in OCS, Canavan transferred to Tijuana, Mexico, as the chief of American citizen services.