Gayleatha B. Brown

Gayleatha B. Brown
Gayleatha B. Brown
United States Ambassador to Benin
	In office; July 25, 2006 – 2009
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Wayne E. Neill
Succeeded by	James Knight
United States Ambassador to Burkina Faso
	In office; August 4, 2009 – 2010
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Jeanine E. Jackson
Succeeded by	Thomas Dougherty
Personal details
Born	June 20, 1947; Matewan, West Virginia, U.S.
Died	April 19, 2013 (aged 65); Edison, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Ambassador

Gayleatha Beatrice Brown (June 20, 1947 – April 19, 2013) was a United States foreign service officer and ambassador. She has served in several diplomatic posts during her career with the U.S. Department of State including U.S. ambassador to Benin.[1][2]

President Obama nominated Brown for the ambassadorial post to Burkina Faso on July 2, 2009. She was confirmed by the Senate on August 4.

Education

Brown was educated in the Red Jacket Elementary School, Matewan Elementary and High Schools in Mingo County, West Virginia. She graduated from high school at Edison High School in Edison, New Jersey.[3] She has BA and MA honor degrees from Howard University. She conducted post-graduate work in international relations at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University.

Career

Before joining the Department of State, Ambassador Brown was a Special Assistant to the Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Africa and a legislative assistant in the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress.

Brown’s postings with the Department of State have included:

Ambassador to Benin
Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa
U.S. Consul General at the American Consulate General and concurrently as the U.S. Deputy Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France
Chief of the Economic and Commercial Sections at the U.S. Embassies in Harare, Zimbabwe; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Desk Officer for Canada, Senegal, Guinea, and Mauritania at the State Department in Washington
Economic Officer/Regional United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Representative and Finance and Development Officer at the U.S. Embassies in Paris and Abidjan
Representative of the State Department Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Export Credit Arrangement negotiations

Honors

Lady of the Golden Horseshoe (West Virginia state academic honor)
Among the first women Rotarians in Tanzania
Charter member of the New Jersey Edison Township High School Alumni Hall of Fame
Two Department of State Superior Honor Awards
State Department Meritorious Honor Award
Honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority and Sandown Rotary Club in Johannesburg, South Africa

Ambassador Brown speaks English, French and Swahili. She writes poetry, enjoys reading (particularly mystery novels), and loves dancing, tennis, t'ai chi, and music (especially gospel, soul, jazz, classical). She is a member of the Shiloh Baptist Church (Pilgrim Circle) in Washington, D.C. and is associated with the Community Church of Iselin, New Jersey.

References

http://www.honoryou.com/programs/PDF/130423gb.pdf
Ambassador Gayleatha B. Brown Biography Archived 2009-06-08 at the Wayback Machine, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Benin. Accessed September 29, 2007. "She was educated in the Red Jacket Elementary School, Matewan Elementary and High Schools in Mingo County, West Virginia; and Edison Township High School, Edison, New Jersey."

Sources

"Ambassador Gayleatha B. Brown". September 22, 2009. State Department. Archived from the original on 2009-09-22. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
United States Department of State: Biography of Gayleatha Brown
White House press release
"Coutonou" (PDF). State Department. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Wayne E. Neill	U.S. Ambassador to Benin 2006–2009	Succeeded by James Knight
Preceded by Jeanine E. Jackson	U.S. Ambassador to Burkina Faso 2009–2010	Succeeded by Thomas Dougherty

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[2] ttp://www.honoryou.com/programs/PDF/130423gb.pdf

[3] Ambassador Gayleatha B. Brown Biography Archived 2009-06-08 at the Wayback Machine, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Benin. Accessed September 29, 2007. "She was educated in the Red Jacket Elementary School, Matewan Elementary and High Schools in Mingo County, West Virginia; and Edison Township High School, Edison, New Jersey."