Pamela Pitzer Willeford (born March 1950) is American diplomat who served as the

United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein This is a list of United States ambassadors to the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein. History Since 1997, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland has also been Diplomatic accreditation, accredited to the Principa ...

between 2003 and 2006. She is also notable as being the sole eyewitness of the 2006 hunting incident where then-United States Vice President

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...

accidentally shot attorney

Harry Whittington Harry Milner Whittington (March 3, 1927 – February 4, 2023) was an American lawyer, real estate investor, and political figure. He received international media attention following an incident on February 11, 2006, when he was accidentally sh ...

in the face and chest.''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' article:
From Arrival to Errant Shot, a Timeline of Cheney's Hunting Accident
.

Biography

Willeford grew up in

Breckenridge, Texas Breckenridge is a city in Stephens County, Texas, Stephens County, Texas, United States. The estimated population was 5,349 as of February 2021. It is the county seat of Stephens County, Texas, Stephens County. The mayor is Bob Sims. Breckenridge ...

and attended

The Hockaday School The Hockaday School is an independent, secular, college preparatory day school for girls located in Dallas, Texas, United States. The boarding school was for girls in grades 8–12 and the day school is from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. The ...

in Dallas. She graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

with a BA in English and Spanish. She became a public and private school teacher in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, starting around the early 1970s. During the 1980s, she was a trustee of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

; she worked prominently in the expansion of the school. On the Texas State Preservation Board, she has been Director of Development, and coordinated its Texas Capitol Rededication project. She began serving on the Board and the Executive Committee of the

Texas Book Festival The Texas Book Festival is a free annual book fair held in Austin, Texas. The festival takes place in late October or early November. It is one of the top book festivals in the United States. Beginnings The festival was established in 1995 by L ...

upon their creation in 1996, and as of 2003, had continued to without interruption. Willeford worked on developing education policy and promoting community service in Texas. She was appointed to the

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) is an agency of the U.S. state of Texas's government that oversees all public post-secondary education in the state. It is headquartered at 1801 North Congress Avenue in Austin. THECB det ...

in 1995, by Governor

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 ...

. She served on the board for eight years, being promoted to chairwoman in 1998. During her tenure as chairwoman, the Board developed a new higher-education plan for the state. She has been involved in numerous civic organizations, including The Helping Hand Home for Children,

SafePlace Center for Battered Women National Safe Place (doing business as National Safe Place Network) is a non-profit organization based out of Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city ...

, Trinity Episcopal School, The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and the Junior League of Austin. She was awarded "Volunteer Extraordinaire" by the Junior League of Austin in 2002 and "Woman of Distinction" from the Girl Scouts Lone Star Council in 2003. She has also served as Advisory Committee Chairman for

The Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

and is currently its chairperson.Official website fo
The Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries
On July 30, 2003,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

nominated Willeford as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein in anticipation of

Mercer Reynolds III Mercer "Merce" Reynolds III (born June 17, 1945) is an American businessman. He was the finance chair of U.S. President George W. Bush's presidential campaign. Education and early career Reynolds, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, earned a bachelo ...

leaving that post. She was sworn in on October 27, 2003. She served until September 2006, when she was succeeded by Peter R. Coneway. She is a long-time Bush family friend, and she and her immediate family have given a total of $23,200 to Republicans during the 2000, 2002, and 2004 election cycles.

Hunting incident

On February 11, 2006, she was the only witness when

accidentally shot Texas attorney

during a

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New Wor ...

hunt.

Personal life

She is married to Dr. George "Boots" Willeford III, an Austin physician. They have two grown children.

References

External links

State Department BiographyOpen Secrets profile on Pamela Willeford
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willeford, Pamela 1950 births Living people People from Austin, Texas People from Dallas Ambassadors of the United States to Switzerland Ambassadors of the United States to Liechtenstein Texas Republicans American women ambassadors People from Breckenridge, Texas Hockaday School alumni 21st-century American women