Ambassador Spotlight: Aurelia E. Brazeal
Did you know about the trailblazing diplomat? Plus: The first issue of “In History.”
Aurelia Erskine Brazeal (born 1943) is the first Black American female Foreign Service Officer (FSO) to be appointed ambassador by three presidents—a singular honor.
“Rea,” as she is known to friends and colleagues, served for four decades, rising to the very top ranks in a Foreign Service career that spanned placements from Argentina to Micronesia. Ambassador Brazeal has intentionally devoted her retirement years toward elevating and inspiring future diplomats, following in the footsteps of the trailblazing academics who raised her in Atlanta.
Executive summary:
Occupation: Diplomat
Entered the Foreign Service in 1968 and retired as a Career Minister in 2008 after 41 years.
Career highlights:
First Overseas assignment: Consular and Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1969-1971)
U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia (Appointed by President George W. Bush; 2002-2005); U.S. Ambassador to Kenya (Appointed by President Bill Clinton, 1993-1996); U.S. Ambassador to Micronesia (Appointed by President George H.W. Bush, 1990-1993)
Brazeal was the inaugural Dean of the Foreign Service Institute’s Leadership and Management School (which she helped establish).
As Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, she testified on substantive policy issues before both chambers of Congress.
She was the Distinguished Visiting Ambassador (2007-2008) and Diplomat-in-Residence (2005-2007) at Howard University.
Editor’s note: This is the first issue of “In History.” The more I learn, the more I wish to share. And learning is a lifelong process. But these weekly snapshots (appetizers?) are meant to strengthen foundations and stoke interest. Many readers won’t recognize every name. My hope is that after reading though, they may wish to learn them. Only in doing so can you begin to see modern diplomacy laid out in full.
Milestones
First Black American woman career officer to be appointed as a U.S. Ambassador
First U.S. Ambassador to The Federated States of Micronesia,(1990-1993)
First Black American woman career officer to be U.S. Ambassador to Kenya (1993-1996)
First Black American woman career officer as U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia (2002-2005)
First Black American woman career officer appointed U.S. Ambassador by three different U.S. Presidents
First Black American woman career officer promoted to Career Minister in the U.S. Foreign Service
First Spelman graduate to enter the U.S. Foreign Service (1968)
Service
U.S. State Department Deputy Asst. Secy. for East Asia & Pacific Affairs (1996-1998)
U.S. State Department Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs, Tokyo, Japan (1987-1990)
U.S State Department Deputy Director for Economics (1984-1986)
U.S. State Department Office of Development Finance, Economic Bureau (1982-1984)
U.S. State Department Dean, Senior Seminar (1998-1999)
U.S. State Department Dean, Leadership & Management School (1999-2002)
U.S. State Department Economic Officer, Tokyo, Japan (1979-1982)
U.S. Treasury Department Review Officer, Secretariat (1977-1979)
U.S. State Department Uruguay/Paraguay Desk Officer (1974-1977)
U.S. State Department Watch Officer & Line Officer, Secretariat (1973-1974)
U.S. State Department Economic Reports Officer, Economic Bureau (1971-1972)
U.S. State Department Consular & Economic Officer, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1969-1971)
Retirement
President of the Association of Black American Ambassadors (ABAA)
She served five terms on the Spelman College Board of Trustees
Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Affairs Council and the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
“My first exposure overseas actually came when I was quite young, when my parents took us, my sister, and myself overseas for family vacation. Later, I attended summer camp in Puerto Rico, which is part of the U.S. but still had students from all over Latin America who came to participate. I was very impressed with the students from Latin America and how they would stand in front of the group and say: ‘As a future leader of my country I’m here to tell you...’”
“I remember sitting there thinking to myself that I would not even consider saying that I’m a future leader the United States.
This is still back in the early '60’s, when we had segregation, as well as upheavals in terms of trying to get equal rights, particularly in the South where I lived. And so I said to myself, ‘What makes these people tick? What makes these Latin American students at that age believe that they're a future leader of their country?’
With this question on my mind, I became very interested in the culture in Latin America.”
—Amb. Brazeal told a writer for the Diversity Abroad organization.
“I don’t buy turkeys even on Thanksgiving. When you attain a position with responsibilities and you have a staff, you don’t let other people be assigned to you, you choose your staff, you pick the people you want.”
—Amb. Brazeal shared this anecdote from “her personal influencer, Barbara Watson, the first black person and the first woman to serve as an Assistant Secretary of State” during the 12th Annual HBCU Foreign Policy Conference inFebruary 2019
AKA: “Rea”
Born: Nov. 24, 1943 in Chicago, Ill.
High School: Northfield Mount Hermon School, Northfield, MA (1961)
Undergraduate Education: Spelman College (BA, 1965)
Post-Grad:
Columbia University (MIA, 1967)
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (post-grad study)
A legacy of trailblazing academics and community leadership
Aurelia spent her formative years in Atlanta with her sister Ernestine (Obituary from 2023) and raised by her parents [pictured above]. Dr. Brailsford Brazeal (died 1981), an economist and dean of Morehouse College, and Ernestine Vivian (died in 2002) taught at Spelman College. Both Aurelia and Ernestine Watson graduated from Spelman.
In her own words: The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Oral History
The Composure and Leadership of Ambassador Aurelia Brazeal (National Musuem of American Diplomacy)
A Century of Service: Firsthand Accounts from U.S. Diplomats (ADST)
“Generative Leadership and the Life of Aurelia Erskine Brazeal, a Trailblazing African American Female Foreign Service Officer” (Atim Eneida George, 2020)
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