Theresa Ann Healy (1932-2016) was the first female [1] American ambassador to Sierra Leone, serving from 1980 until 1983. [2] Healy was a career Foreign Service Officer from 1955 until her retirement in 1995, serving in Naples, Milan, and Bern before her ambassadorship. [3] [4]
Healy was born on July 14, 1932, in New York City to Anthony and Mary Healy. [5] She attended Catholic schools, eventually graduating from St. John's University in 1954. [5] She joined the Foreign Service the following year. In addition to her overseas assignments, she also served multiple tours of duty at the State Department, including as an intelligence research specialist and economist. [3]
Sierra Leone maintains formal relations with many Western nations. It also maintains diplomatic relations with the former Soviet Bloc countries as well as with the People's Republic of China.
Tracey Ann Jacobson is an American diplomat and a former United States ambassador to Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kosovo and Ethiopia. She served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from January 2017 through October 2017. She retired then returned to active duty in 2021 as the State Department's Director of the Afghanistan Task Force, and then as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at the Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In January 2024, she was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as the United States ambassador to Iraq.
Herman Jay "Hank" Cohen is an American diplomat who served as United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1989 to 1993.
Elinor Greer Constable was an American diplomat who was one of the first women to have a distinguished career in the United States Foreign Service including serving as the United States Ambassador to Kenya (1986-1989) and Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (1993-1995).
Walter Leon Cutler is an international consultant and advisor, with a focus on the Middle East, and a former U.S. Ambassador.
William G. Bradford was an American diplomat. He was the United States Ambassador to Chad from 1976 to 1979.
Maria Elena Brewer is an American diplomat who had served as the United States Ambassador to Lesotho from 2022 to 2024. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Sierra Leone from 2017 to 2021.
Willard Ames De Pree was an American career diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Bangladesh and Mozambique.
Michael Anthony Samuels is a non career appointee American Ambassador to Sierra Leone (1975-1979).
Jean Mary Wilkowski was the first woman to serve as an American ambassador to an African country, when she was posted to Zambia from 1972 until 1976.
Berenice Owen-Jones is an Australian diplomat who is currently Australian High Commissioner to Ghana since July 2022.