Alaina Teplitz, a career Foreign Service officer and daughter of long-time Peoria residents Marcella and Jack Teplitz, is the new U.S. ambassador to Nepal.

Teplitz has served at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, and had previous postings in Bangladesh, Belgium, Mongolia, Albania and Australia.

She attended New Trier High School in Winnetka and earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. She joined the State Department in 1991.

Marcella Teplitz earned a bachelor’s in international studies from Bradley University in 1971. (When Community Word first began as the West Bluff Word, Marcella helped deliver the paper, often while pushing her son in a baby carriage.) Jack Teplitz is an attorney and developer.

In her testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Alaina Teplitz outlined her goals “to strengthen Nepal’s democracy, advance its economic growth and improve its resiliency” following the April 25 earthquake that resulted in extensive damage to the small nation.

Nepal is one of the few countries in Asia to abolish the death penalty and is the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage.

Teplitz is an IT specialist and has worked on coordinating IT policies among State Department outposts and Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate her for the ambassadorship in March. She was confirmed by the Senate in August.