James Bruce Engle (April 16, 1919 – November 7, 2017) was an American diplomat. A career Foreign Service Officer, he served as U.S. Ambassador to

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

(November 26, 1974 – February 15, 1976). Born in a sod hut in Billings, Montana, James Engle was first in his class at Burlington Junior College in Iowa and went on to study at

The University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the be ...

. He went on to attend the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, and went to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

at Exeter College with a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

, as well as receiving a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to study at Instituto Italiano Studi Storici. He was the first Rhodes Scholar to also receive a Fulbright Scholarship. He also studied at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

with a

Rockefeller Public Service Award Rockefeller is a German surname, originally given to people from the village of Rockenfeld near Neuwied in the Rhineland and commonly referring to subjects associated with the Rockefeller family. It may refer to: People with the name Rockefeller fa ...

. Engle served in the Navy during and after World War II, and assisted in the development of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and the implementation of the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

in the years after the war. He served in the U.S. diplomatic corps for 46 years, holding positions in Nicaragua and Vietnam before serving as ambassador to

(then

Dahomey The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a region ...

). Following his retirement from the foreign service, James Engle moved to Peacham, Vermont, where he helped to found and served as the first president of Vermont Coverts, an organization dedicated to informing landowners about the maintenance of wildlife habitats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engle, James B. 1919 births 2017 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Benin Harvard Business School alumni People from Billings, Montana People from Peacham, Vermont University of Chicago alumni American Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford United States Foreign Service personnel United States Navy personnel of World War II American expatriates in Italy American expatriates in Nicaragua American expatriates in Vietnam