Mark Boulware was nominated as U.S. Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania on July 26, 2007 and confirmed by the Senate on October 26, 2007. He presented his credentials to President Abdallahi on November 22, 2007. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, he most recently served as Faculty Advisor at the National War College. He was previously assigned as Diplomat in Residence at Florida International University, Miami, Florida.

Earlier overseas postings were as U.S. Consul General in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 2001 to July 2004, Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in San Salvador (1999-2001, Deputy Chief of Mission in Yaoundé, Cameroon (concurrently accredited to Equatorial Guinea) from 1996 to 1999; as Administrative Counselor in Bamako, Mali (1994-1996) and Gaborone, Botswana (1990-1993); as Administrative Officer in Banjul, The Gambia (1987-1989); as Supervisory General Services Officer in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (1985-1987); as Consular Officer in Maracaibo, Venezuela (1982-1985); and as General Services Officer in Jakarta, Indonesia (1980-1982).

Domestically, he was detailed to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Pearson Fellow (1989-1990), working for Congressman Dante Fascell. Before joining the Foreign Service in 1980, Mr. Boulware was a commissioned officer in the United States Army. He served tours of duty in Pirmasens, Germany and Hawthorne, Nevada, leaving active service as a Captain.

Mr. Boulware was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1948. He studied at the Université Rennes 2 - Haute Bretagne in Rennes, France and at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he earned a BA (1971) and MA (1974). He graduated from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1994. He is a recipient of the Department of State's Superior Honor Award, Senior Performance Pay Award and three Meritorious Honor Awards, as well as NASA's "Silver Snoopy" award. He was awarded the Pedro Ernesto Medal of Merit by the city of Rio and the Tamandaré Medal of Merit by the Brazilian Navy.

He is an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro and an honorary chief of the Nso people of Cameroon. His languages are Portuguese, Spanish, French and Indonesian.