AIT Announces New Cultural and Press Chief Matthew Cenzer, Cat Lover and Multilingual Diplomat

(Taipei, April 14) The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced today the appointment of new officials: Matthew Cenzer as Cultural and Press Chief and Fatima Quraishi as Cultural Officer. Both are career diplomats and fluent in Mandarin. Prior to his posting in Taiwan, Cenzer served as Chief of Mission at the U.S. Consulate in Nagoya, Japan, and is known to be a cat lover with three beloved felines.

Arend Zwartjes, the outgoing Cultural and Press Chief at AIT, has completed his term. AIT announced today that Matthew Cenzer assumed the role in July, having previously undergone Mandarin language training. Before this appointment, he served as Chief of Mission at the U.S. Consulate in Nagoya, Japan.

Cenzer has held several key positions, including Staff Director for the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines, Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York, Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Consular Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. He also served as a Pearson Fellow at the U.S. Senate, advising on foreign policy.

Before entering diplomacy, Cenzer taught history at Northwestern University in the United States and conducted doctoral research in Kenya under a Fulbright grant. He speaks Mandarin, Japanese, Indonesian, and Korean. He lives with his wife and three cats, and his personal interests include photography, birdwatching, and art.

AIT also announced that Fatima Quraishi assumed her role as Cultural Officer in July, after completing Mandarin language training. Prior to this, she served as Press Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, and previously as a Consular Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana.

Before joining the State Department in 2018, Quraishi worked in the financial sector in New York for over a decade and served as a freelance journalist. She speaks Mandarin, Lithuanian, Urdu, and Spanish. Her personal interests include salsa dancing, singing, and cooking. Quraishi looks forward to exploring Taiwan with her husband and two daughters. (Edited by Hsieh Chia-chen) 1150714

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