Patricia Alsup
Carolyn Patricia "Pat" Alsup (born September 24, 1950)[1] is a diplomat and former United States Ambassador to the Gambia. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on June 8, 2015, and confirmed by the Senate on October 8, 2015.[2][3]
Patricia Alsup | |
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United States Ambassador to The Gambia | |
In office January 13, 2016 – September 22, 2018 | |
President | Barack Obama Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Edward M. Alford |
Succeeded by | Richard Carlton Paschall III |
Personal details | |
Born | September 24, 1950 |
Alma mater | Wellesley College Harvard Business School |
Early life and education
Alsup is from St. Petersburg, Florida. She is the daughter of Nora Reed Alsup and Frederick "Fred" W. Alsup. Her father was a physician and civil rights activist. When she was twelve, Alsup spent a summer in Germany, an experience that sparked an early interest in the languages and culture of other countries. She attended Westtown School, a Quaker high school near Philadelphia, and graduated in 1968. [4]
Alsup then attended Wellesley College as an undergraduate and received her B.A. degree in economics in 1972. She earned an M.B.A. at the Harvard Business School with an emphasis in marketing. Later, she attended the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, where she received an M.A. in 2008.[5]
Career
Alsup's career began in the private sector, where she worked for Seaway Hotels Corporation, the City of Saint Petersburg, the aerospace division of Ling-Temco-Vought Aerospace, and S. C. Johnson & Son. She was a consultant and art gallery owner in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Alsup also worked for the Washington, D.C., Development Corporation and served as a commissioner for the St. Petersburg Housing Authority.
In 1992 Alsop joined the U.S. Foreign Service and by 2000, had served in Washington, D.C, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City , and the Consular Officer at the U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.[6]
From 2001 to 2003, Alsup served as a special assistant in the Office of Undersecretary for Economics, Business & Agriculture. She was then an examiner on the department's Board of Examiners and executive assistant with the Economic Bureau.
Much of the second half of her career with the Foreign Service was spent in Africa, or on assignments related to Africa. She became deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Banjul, The Gambia, a role she held from 2005 to 2007.
She then served as a career development officer and then accepted assignments in the Office of Central African Affairs from 2010 to 2012. She then became deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana, a role she left after three years.[7]
In November 2015, Alsup arrived in The Gambia as ambassador-designate.
On December 14, 2015, Alsup held a swearing-in ceremony for more than thirty new Peace Corps volunteers at her residence in Gambia. Half were assigned to work on community-based health projects, while the other half were scheduled to work with farmers to improve local agricultural practices and promote sustainability. Peace Corps volunteers have served in Gambia since the program was first opened in 1967, and over 1,745 Peace Corps workers in Gambia since that time.[8]
Alsup presented her credentials to The Gambia's vice president, Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy at the State House in Banjul on January 13, 2016. When she met with Njie-Saidy, Alsup said, "It is my sincere hope that we will share information freely, collaborate openly, and work together tirelessly to improve relations between our two great nations, and further better the lives of the warm, welcoming people of The Gambia." She ended her tour and term as ambassador on September 22, 2018.[9][10]
References
- Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
- U.S. Ambassador to The Gambia: Who Is C. Patricia Alsup? AllGov, October 11, 2015
- President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts The White House, June 8, 2015
- Please note that if Alsup was born in 1961, she was only 7 years old when she graduated from high school. The actual birth year should not have been 1961 as seen on some websites.
- Ambassador Archived 2016-04-23 at the Wayback Machine The U.S. Embassy, Gambia, accessed April 18, 2016
- Alsup Carolyn Patricia - Republic of The Gambia July 2015 U.S. Department of State, July 2015
- Outgoing US Deputy Ambassador lauds Ghana Ghana Web, July 25, 2015
- More Than 350 New Peace Corps Volunteers Sworn Into Service at the End of 2015 Archived 2016-04-21 at the Wayback Machine The Peace Corps, December 30, 2015
- "Carolyn Patricia Alsup (1961–)". Department of State.
- Gambia: U.S. Ambassador Alsup Presents Credentials All Africa, January 14, 2016