Contributions by New Mexicans in the Foreign Service
People born, raised, or educated in New Mexico have made important contributions to America’s prosperity and security as members of the Foreign Service community. Here are some examples from ADST’s oral history collection:
- After high school in Albuquerque, Melbourne L. Spector attended the University of New Mexico. Spector joined the Foreign Service in 1948 following his military service at the end of World War II. Spector soon found himself in the middle of staffing and implementing the Marshall Plan to advance European recovery after the war. He went on to serve as the first Director of Personnel for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Read about his full career and Marshall Plan work in his two interviews in ADST’s collection.
- William J. Cunningham attended the University of New Mexico and joined the Foreign Service in 1949. After being expelled from Czechoslovakia as relations with the communist government deteriorated, Cunningham became responsible for staffing and then evacuating the U.S. Embassy in Seoul during the Korean War. Learn more in Cunningham’s ADST oral history.
- A graduate of the University of New Mexico, Richard W. Barrett began his career in foreign affairs in 1960. In early 1961, he worked for the “President’s Task Force on Foreign Economic Assistance.” As part of the Task Force, Barrett helped create the structure of the USAID, which in the following decades has led American development and disaster assistance to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and respond to humanitarian crises. His complete oral history is in ADST’s collection.
- A graduate of New Mexico State University, Samuel Vick Smith served with the Peace Corps in Uganda before joining the Foreign Service in 1967. After being injured by an anti-tank mine while serving in the civilian pacification program in Vietnam, Smith began to focus on economic issues. As economic/commercial officer in Amsterdam, he organized the first trade delegation of U.S. computer software companies to the Netherlands in 1980. Find out more in Smith’s full oral history.
- A. Ellen Shippy grew up in Silver City and later attended the University of New Mexico. She joined the Foreign Service in 1970 after serving in El Salvador in the Peace Corps. Shippy was part of a group of female Foreign Service Officers who successfully sued the Department of State for sexual discrimination and pushed the Department toward greater gender equality. She went to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Malawi. Learn more in her oral history.
- Dennis C. Jett grew up in Albuquerque and attended the University of New Mexico before joining the Foreign Service in 1972. As Deputy Chief of Mission in Monrovia in the midst of a civil war, he helped numerous American citizens and even a few beloved pets escape Liberia while he stayed on to maintain communications with remaining Americans and ensure delivery of humanitarian aid. Jett later served as U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique and Peru. Read more about his adventures in his ADST oral history.
- Born in the small town of Las Vegas, New Mexico, Mari-Luci Jaramillo became the first Hispanic-American ambassador and the first woman to serve as an American ambassador in the Western Hemisphere when she was appointed to head the U.S. Embassy in Honduras in 1977. Jaramillo helped convince the military junta that had seized power in Honduras to transition back to civilian rule. Learn more in her complete oral history.
- A native of Hobbs with family ties to the Choctaw Nation, James Elliot was a graduate of Eastern New Mexico University and joined the Foreign Service in 1982. As economic counselor in Islamabad, he helped enforce the U.S. ban on technology exports to Pakistan after it tested a nuclear weapon in 1998. Find out more details in his ADST oral history.