Dorothy Robins (later Mowry), from the 1942 yearbook of the College of Wooster
Born
Dorothy B. Robins
September 21, 1921
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died
July 6, 2021 (age 99)
St. Michaels, Maryland, U.S.
Other names
Dorothy Mowry
Occupations
Diplomat, writer, educator
Dorothy B. Robins-Mowry (September 21, 1921 – July 6, 2021) was an American diplomat and writer. She was a foreign service officer with theUnited States Information Agency (USIA) from 1963 to 1984. Her assignments included cultural roles at the United States embassies in Tokyo in the 1960s and in Tehran in the 1970s.
Robins was born inBrooklyn, the daughter of William Albert Robins and Emma J. Koffre Robins. Her father was a marine engineer.[1] Her mother died in 1934.[2]
In her early career, Robins held several education policy roles with theAmerican Association for the United Nations, theAmerican Association of University Women, and theForeign Policy Association.[3] She was a foreign service officer with the United States Information Agency (USIA). From 1963 to 1971 she was in charge of the USIA's cultural and educational activities, and women's programs at theUnited States Embassy in Tokyo.[1][6] She wascultural attaché at theUnited States Embassy in Tehran from 1974 to 1979.[1][7] She also was a policy officer for North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, a country affairs officer for India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. She retired from the USIA in 1984.[8] She was president of the USIA Alumni Association.[9] "Representing America abroad increases one's patriotism — or perhaps one's awareness of it," she told an interviewer in 1975. "When our country does something that confirms our image as a nation of freedom, justice and equality of opportunity, then we're tremendously proud."[10]
Robins-Mowry was named a distinguished alumna of the College of Wooster in 1997,[12] and earned aMeritorious Honor Award from the USIA twice, in 1967 and 1981.[1] She received anhonorary doctorate fromSoongsil University in South Korea, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the College of Wooster in 1966.[4]
In her later years she was a lecturer with thePhi Beta Kappa society.[7][8] She was active in the Talbot River Protection Association and the Riverview Garden Club. She and her husband began a youth sailing program at the Miles River Yacht Club, and funded an award for sportsmanship.[11]
Robins marriedMonsanto executive David Thomas Mowry in 1971, "the same year that the foreign service began allowing women to marry", noted one profile.[1] David Mowry died in 1992.[21] She died in 2021, at the age of 99, at her home inSt. Michaels, Maryland.[11]
