Terence Alphonso Todman (March 13, 1926 – August 13, 2014) was an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, Spain, Denmark, and Argentina. In 1990, he was awarded the rank of

Career Ambassador Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service Officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the President and confirmation by the United States Sena ...

Life

Todman was born on

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea which, together with Saint John, Water Island, Hassel Island, and Saint Croix, form a county-equivalent and constituent district of the United States Virgin ...

, on March 13, 1926. He was drafted and served in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 1945 to 1949. Todman graduated from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico ''summa cum laude'', and earned an M.P.A. degree from the Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, which is the top-ranked and most prestigious graduate school of public administration. During his Ambassadorship in Guinea, his embassy was under eavesdropping of the Soviet Union's KGB. His appointment as ambassador to Costa Rica in 1974 represented the first African American to be given the title in a Spanish-speaking country. Todman was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity. He was also a director of Exxcel Group.

Personal life and death

Todman married Doris Weston; they had four children. On August 13, 2014, he died at the age of 88, at a hospital in Saint Thomas.Terence A. Todman, U.S ambassador to six nations, dies at 88
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References

External links

at The Political Graveyard
United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission by Country
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todman, Terence 1926 births 2014 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina Ambassadors of the United States to Chad Ambassadors of the United States to Costa Rica Ambassadors of the United States to Denmark Ambassadors of the United States to Guinea Ambassadors of the United States to Spain United States Career Ambassadors Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni Syracuse University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II People from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands African-American diplomats United States Foreign Service personnel United States Army officers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century American diplomats