Patricia M. Byrne | |
|---|---|
 Patricia M. Byrne, from a 1964 publication of the US Department of State | |
| United States Ambassador to Burma | |
| In office November 27, 1979 – September 4, 1983 | |
| Appointed by | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Maurice Darrow Bean |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Anthony O'Donohue |
| United States Ambassador to Mali | |
| In office September 16, 1976 – October 30, 1979 | |
| Appointed by | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Robert O. Blake |
| Succeeded by | Anne Forrester |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1925-06-01)June 1, 1925 Cleveland,Ohio |
| Died | November 23, 2007(2007-11-23) (aged 82) Washington, D.C. |
| Alma mater | Vassar College Johns Hopkins University National War College |
Patricia Mary Byrne (June 1, 1925 – November 23, 2007) was an American diplomat who served asUnited States Ambassador to Burma from November 1979 to September 1983, andUnited States Ambassador to Mali from December 1976 to October 1979.[1]
Byrne was born inCleveland, the daughter of Edward F. and Mary Kreutzer Byrne, and was a resident ofSouth Euclid, Ohio. She graduated second in her class from high school in Cleveland. She credits her father for encouraging her independence and her ambition to enter the foreign service.[2]
Byrne was an honors student atVassar College, where she shaped her studies toward her foreign service career goals, studying French, Spanish and Russian. She graduated in 1946 with an A.B. degree.[3] During two of her college summers she returned to Cleveland, one year working as a riveter in a warplane factory, and another year assembling gun parts. A Vassar fellowship allowed her to attend graduate school at theSchool of Advanced International Studies atJohns Hopkins University based inWashington, D.C. and she earned a master's degree there in 1947.
Byrne attended theNational War College from 1968 to 1969 when she became the school's first female graduate.
After completing her studies, Byrne began working for theCentral Intelligence Agency and took the competitive Foreign Service examination. She was one of 19 women selected for U.S. Foreign Service, where she served from 1949 to 1989.
After Byrne joined the Foreign Service, she was posted toAthens. She was assigned toSaigon from 1950 to 1955. After serving as a desk officer for Laos at the State Department, she accepted international assignments inTurkey andLaos. Byrne served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Geneva Conference on Laos from 1961 to 1962.
After graduating, she served at the embassy in Paris. In 1973 she became deputy chief of mission in Columbo,Sri Lanka. From 1975 to 1976, Byrne took theSenior Seminar at the Foreign Service Institute in foreign policy.[4]
In 1984 Byrne was a foreign affairs fellow assigned toGeorgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.[5]
Byrne retired in Washington, where she was a member of the Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired, and was twice elected to the group's board.[6] She died on November 23, 2007.
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to Mali 1976–1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Ambassador to Burma 1979–1983 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
