William Markley (Mark) Bellamy (born August 31, 1950) is an American

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. A career Foreign Service Officer, he served as

United States ambassador to Kenya After Kenya's independence on December 12, 1963, the United States immediately recognized the new nation and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The embassy in Nairobi was established December 12, 1963—Kenya’s independence day—with La ...

from 2003 to 2006 under President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Early life and education

Bellamy was born in

Okmulgee, Oklahoma Okmulgee is a city in, and the county seat of, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma. The name is from the Mvskoke word ''okimulgee,'' which means "boiling waters".Bamburg, Maxine"Okmulgee,"''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Accessed June 16 ...

, in 1950. He earned a BA from

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

and an MA from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Career

Ambassador to Kenya

In his role as

United States Ambassador to Kenya After Kenya's independence on December 12, 1963, the United States immediately recognized the new nation and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The embassy in Nairobi was established December 12, 1963—Kenya’s independence day—with La ...

, Bellamy led international efforts to handle the AIDS crisis and combat corruption. In August 2004, Bellamy opened a community-owned tourist lodge named Lion's Bluff in the LUMO Community Wildlife Sanctuary. In January 2006, Bellamy was involved in rescue efforts following the collapse of a building on Nairobi's Ngala Street that killed four people.

Later career

After being Ambassador to Kenya, Bellamy was senior vice president of the National Defense University. Bellamy later retired from diplomacy in 2007. He now advises the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...

and is a professor at

Simmons University Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established in 1899 by clothing manufacturer John Simmons. In 2018, it reorganized its structure and changed its name to a university. Its ...

. In October 2019, Bellamy was a signatory to a letter by national security officials demanding protection for the anonymous whistleblower that sparked the

impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump The inquiry process which preceded the first impeachment of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States, was initiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 24, 2019, after a whistleblower alleged that Donald Trump may have a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellamy, William Mark 1950 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Kenya Occidental College alumni The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni