Elizabeth Ann Brown (August 15, 1918 – March 7, 2017) was an American foreign service officer. She was appointed Director of the Office of United Nations Political Affairs in 1965, and won the

Federal Woman's Award The Federal Woman's Award, also known as the Federal Women's Award, was given by the United States Civil Service Commission from 1961 until 1976. The Federal Woman's Award was established by Barbara Bates Gunderson in 1960, while she was serving on ...

in 1967.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Ann Brown was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, the daughter of Edwin Keith Brown and Grace Viola Foss Brown."Elizabeth Brown"
''Washington Post'' (March 15, 2017); via Legacy She earned a bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from Reed College in 1940, with a senior thesis titled "A Study of Isolationist Propaganda". She earned a master's degree in international relations and government from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1943. "Elizabeth Ann Brown to Receive Federal Woman's Award" ''Department of State News Letter'' (February 1967): 31. via Internet Archive

Career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Brown worked for the National War Labor Board. After the war, she joined the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

, where she was a foreign affairs analyst and officer. In 1956 she became acting Officer in Charge of the Office of United Nations Political Affairs. From 1960 to 1963, she worked at the American Embassy in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

. She was named Director of the Office of United Nations Political Affairs in 1965, and won the Federal Woman's Award in 1967, "for her unique accomplishments in the precedent-building field of multilateral diplomacy". In 1968, she was a keynote speaker at the Model United Nations of the Far West, held at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. From 1970 to 1975, Brown was Political Counselor at the

Embassy of the United States in Athens The Embassy of the United States in Athens is the embassy of the United States in Greece, in the capital city of Athens. The embassy is charged with diplomacy and Greece–United States relations. The United States Ambassador to Greece is the head ...

. She was Deputy Chief of Mission at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in 1975. She spent the last years of her career working in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and retired in 1979. Brown wrote a college history, ''The Formative Years of Reed College'' (1947), served on the National Advisory Council of Reed College, and won the school's Distinguished Service Award in 1992.

Personal life and legacy

Brown gave an oral history interview to the

Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) is a United States non-profit organization established in 1986 by retired Foreign Service officers. It produces and shares oral histories by American diplomats and facilitates the publica ...

in 1995.Dunnigan, Thomas J. (May 1995)
"Oral history interview with Elizabeth Ann Brown"
Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project. She died in 2017, aged 98 years, in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

* Elizabeth Ann Brown
"Fourth Regular Session of the General Assembly"
''The Department of State Bulletin 22'' (January 2, 1950): 3–15. * Elizabeth Ann Brown
"Fifth Regular Session of the General Assembly"
''The Department of State Bulletin 23'' (January 22, 1951): 138–152. * Elizabeth Ann Brown
"Survey of Membership Problem"
(1955), a report about the United Nations {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Elizabeth Ann 1918 births 2017 deaths People from Portland, Oregon Reed College alumni Columbia University alumni American political scientists