Jean Mary Wilkowski (August 28, 1919 – July 27, 2016) was the first woman to serve as an American ambassador to an African country, when she was posted to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

from 1972 until 1976.

Early life and education

Jean Mary Wilkowski was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, the daughter of Ernest William Wilkowski and Mary Margaret "Mae" Dorgan Wilkowski. Both of her parents were born in Wisconsin. Her father ran a hotel in Fond du Lac. She went to high school in Florida, and graduated from

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Originally a college exclusively for women, it is now coeducational. It is the oldest Catholic college in Indiana a ...

in Indiana, with a degree in journalism. She later earned a master's degree from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Career

Wilkowski taught at

Barry College Barry College was a Further Education college in Barry, Wales which merged with Coleg Glan Hafren in September 2011 to form the new Cardiff and Vale College. The college admits approximately 10,000 students per year. It is partnered with the Univ ...

in Florida as a young woman. She joined the US Foreign Service in 1944, first as a Foreign Service Auxiliary, and then as a Foreign Service Officer, serving in Trinidad, Bogota, Santiago, Milan, Paris, and Rome. In 1966, she became Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the American embassy in

Tegucigalpa, Honduras Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

. In 1969, she was briefly the

Chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

, the first woman to serve in that role in a Latin American embassy. In 1971, she was awarded the Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Award and in 2003, the Distinguished Alumni Award by her undergraduate ''alma mater''. In 1972, she was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order "pro Merito Melitense" by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for her efforts to aid persons dislaced by the 1969 Honduras/El Salvador hostilites. Wilkowski became the first woman to serve as an American ambassador to an African country, when she was posted to Zambia in 1972. She organized

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

's visit to Zambia in 1973, and negotiated a Food for Peace loan from the United States. She remained as ambassador there until 1976. Wilkowski later served as the American coordinator of preparations for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Conference on Science and Technology for Development in 1977. She was the first ambassador to lend collected artifacts to the National Museum of American Diplomacy, and after her death, her estate made the loans into permanent donations. In retirement after 1980, Wilkowski consulted for the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, served on the International Policy Committee for the U.S. Catholic Conference, and was a visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. She served on the board of trustees of Barry University, where she was added to the school's Wall of Honor in 2002. She was a member of the DACOR Legacy Society. Her autobiography, ''Abroad for Her Country: Tales of a Pioneer Woman Ambassador in the U.S. Foreign Service'' (2008), was published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Personal life

Wilkowski died in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

in 2016, a month before her 97th birthday.

References

External links

The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Women Ambassadors Series AMBASSADOR JEAN MARY WILKOWSKI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkowski, Jean M. American women ambassadors Ambassadors of the United States to Zambia People from Rhinelander, Wisconsin 1919 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American diplomats United States Foreign Service personnel 20th-century American women 21st-century American women