Consul General
Biography
Ronald Kramer comes from an academic background that included extensive studies in theology, literature and history. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Illinois (1971). His seminary studies at the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in Epworth, Iowa and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago put Mr. Kramer on a trajectory toward priesthood, but before ordination he elected to pursue instead a Master’s Degree in European History, which was awarded to him by the University of Illinois’s Chicago Circle Campus (UICC) in 1976.
Mr. Kramer worked for the Chicago Transit Authority from 1977 until 1979, when he joined the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer.
Since joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Kramer has served as a visa officer in Barbados (1980-81), and Monterrey, N.L. Mexico (1982-85). He also served as a consular officer in Riyadh Saudi Arabia (1985-87) and in El Salvador (1987-89). From 1989-92 he was principal officer at the American Consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico followed by four years as Chief of the Consular Section in Guadalajara, Mexico. After Guadalajara, Mr. Kramer spent three years as Consul General at the United States Interest Section of the Swiss Embassy in Havana, Cuba. Upon leaving Cuba he was again a principal officer, this time at the American Consulate in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, from 1999-2002. He then served for three years as Consular Section Chief of the American Consulate General in Lagos, Nigeria.
Mr. Kramer married the former Miss Maricela Estrada Mendoza of Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacan, Mexico in 1976. They have two children, Kristina age 28 and Carl age 24.