Jean Broward Shevlin Gerard (March 9, 1938 – August 5, 1996) was the American permanent representative to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and is credited with playing a key role in the US pulling out of the agency under the

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

administration. From 1985 to 1989, she served as Ambassador to

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

UNESCO

When she was appointed in 1981, her mandate was to clean up an agency perceived to be badly managed and anti West under the leadership of

Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, GCIH (born 20 March 1921) is a Senegalese retired civil servant and former Director-General of UNESCO. Born in Dakar, M'bow served in France and North Africa during World War II after volunteering for the French Army, also s ...

. On December 28, 1983, the Reagan Administration decided to no longer try to pursue change and Gerard gave notice that the US would pull out and no longer provide financial support as of the end of business December 31, 1984, thereby cutting the UNESCO budget by a quarter. Britain and Singapore followed soon after.

Personal life

Gerard graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

in 1959 and

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test take ...

in 1977. She was married to New York City real estate investor and military officer Brigadier General James Watson Gerard. She died of lung cancer at her home in Paris at the age of 58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Jean Vassar College alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni People from Portland, Oregon Permanent Delegates of the United States to UNESCO Deaths from lung cancer Ambassadors of the United States to Luxembourg American women ambassadors Ambassadors of the United States 20th-century American diplomats 20th-century American women 1938 births 1996 deaths