Frances D. Cook
Frances D. Cook | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cook in 1997 | |
| 7th Ambassador of the United States to Burundi | |
| In office September 25, 1980 – March 15, 1983 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Thomas J. Corcoran |
| Succeeded by | James R. Bullington |
| 10th Ambassador of the United States to Cameroon | |
| In office December 21, 1989 – January 1, 1993 | |
| President | George H.W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Mark L. Edelman |
| Succeeded by | Harriet W. Isom |
| 8th Ambassador of the United States to Oman | |
| In office January 2, 1996 – January 10, 1999 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | David J. Dunford |
| Succeeded by | John B. Craig |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frances Dee Cook September 7, 1945 Charleston, West Virginia, United States of America |
| Education | Mary Washington College (1967, B.A.) John F. Kennedy School of Government (1978, M.P.A.) |
Frances Dee Cook (born September 7, 1945, Charleston, West Virginia) was a career Foreign Service Officer who was the US Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi from 1980–1983, Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon, 1989–1993 and she was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman on December 28, 1995.[1][2]
As Ambassador to Oman and Consul General in Alexandria, Egypt, she was the first female chief of mission in the Persian Gulf, and the first female head of post in the Middle East for the United States.[3]
Cook heads her own international business consulting firm, The Ballard Group and is Managing Director of the Quincy Group, a strategic advisory firm and merchant bank.[3]
Early life and education
[edit]Cook was born in Charleston, West Virginia to Nash and Vivian Cook but grew up in Homestead, Florida.[4] She earned a BA from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia in 1967. In 1978, she received a M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[1]
Career
[edit]After joining the Foreign Service in 1967 and completing language school, Cook’s first assignment was to be Special Assistant to Sargent Shriver, Ambassador to France from 1968–1969. Her future posts included being a member of the U.S. Delegation to Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam, 1970–1971; U.S. Consulate General, Sydney, Australia, 1971–1973; U.S. Embassy, Dakar, Senegal, 1973–1975; Personnel Officer for Africa, USIA, 1975–1977; Director of the Press Office, Bureau of African Affairs, Department of State, 1978–1980; Consul General, Alexandria, Egypt, 1983–1986; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Assistance, Bureau of Refugee Programs, 1986–1987; Director, Office of West Africa Affairs, Department of State, 1987–1989; and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security Affairs, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, 1993–1995.[1] From 2010–2020, Cook served as a member of the board of trustees at The American College of the Mediterranean (ACM), an American-style degree-granting institution in Aix-en-Provence, France, which includes IAU College, a study abroad institute for undergraduates.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Frances D. Cook". American Academy of Diplomacy. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "Frances D. Cook (1945–)". Office of the Historian. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ a b "U.S. Ambassador Frances D. Cook" (PDF). PerkinsCole. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Women Ambassadors Series AMBASSADOR FRANCES COOK" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 9 December 1986. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- 1945 births
- People from Charleston, West Virginia
- People from Homestead, Florida
- University of Mary Washington alumni
- Harvard Kennedy School alumni
- Ambassadors of the United States to Burundi
- Ambassadors of the United States to Cameroon
- Ambassadors of the United States to Oman
- American women ambassadors
- Living people
- American consuls
- 21st-century American women