Monica Shie, a former teacher, took over as the director of American Center in Calcutta on Monday. This is her second assignment in India.

She is also the new public affairs officer at the US consulate in Calcutta, succeeding Jamie Dragon who held both posts since September 2017.

Shie was introduced at a programme to welcome her and bid farewell to Dragon at the American Center on Friday.

“I am thrilled to be back in India representing the United States here in Calcutta and in the east and Northeast. I look forward to meeting people across the Calcutta consular district and advancing the US-India relationship,” Shie said in a statement issued by the centre.

The Calcutta consular district comprises Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Sikkim and the seven Northeastern states.

She had served in the US embassy in Delhi for two years from 2011 to 2013.

Shie arrived in the city from New York, where she served in the office of International Visitors and at the New York Foreign Press Center, co-located at the US mission to the United Nations.

Her 13-year-old daughter has accompanied her to the city.

She has served at the US embassy in Dhaka, as well as the US Department of State’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in Washington.

Before joining the foreign service, Shie taught English language and literature in public schools and universities in New York, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand.

Shie holds a master’s degree from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Miami University, Ohio.