Cynthia Shepard Perry

Dr. Cynthia Helena Shepard Perry (née Norton; November 11, 1928 – June 13, 2024) was an American diplomat and educator. She served as Presidential appointed U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone and Burundi and as the American Executive Director of the African Development Bank. Being appointed as a diplomat for three U.S. Presidents (Ronald Reagan,George H. W. Bush, & George W. Bush) throughout her career Perry promoted racial and gender equality, international cooperation, and African economic development.

Early life Perry was born on November 11, 1928 in the mining town of Burnett, Indiana near Terre Haute, Indiana. She grew up in a segregated community called Lost Creek, Indiana, near Terre Haute, the sixth of nine children. She was one of the few blacks who graduated from Otter Creek High School in 1946. For her doctoral degree, Perry proposed to improve race relations by developing African Studies curricula for public schools. She had never been to Africa, so she recruited over 30 former Peace Corps volunteers who had served in Africa to develop and test African Studies curricula using their own first-hand experience and the latest research into black history and affective education.

Career Armed with a Doctorate in International Education, (Ed.D.) Cynthia Shepherd Perry moved between academe, consulting, and diplomacy depending upon which political party was in power. She honed her leadership skills in increasingly responsible positions, culminating in two challenging ambassadorships and an international development bank position under three Republican presidents.

Before starting doctoral work Perry already had secretarial, banking, and computer skills because of work she had done while attending school and raising her children. While working on her doctorate, she managed 34 returned Peace Corps volunteers and coordinated with the Public Schools of Worcester, Mass. She served as director of the National Teacher Corps at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

In 1973, Perry returned to Africa for three years with her second husband, Dr. J.O.Perry, who had taken a position with UNESCO at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. During his three-year tenure, she trained Peace Corps paramedical volunteers, lectured at the University, and served as a consultant to the United States Information Agency in Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia.

Presidential appointments

U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed Perry U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone. She presented her credentials on November 20, 1986, and served until August 30, 1989.

U.S. Ambassador to Burundi

On November 7, 1989, President George H. W. Bush announced his intention to nominate Perry as U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Burundi.

She began her assignment on February 12, 1990, and served until February 28, 1993.

United States Director of the African Development Bank

In July 2001, President George W. Bush announced his intention to nominate Perry to serve a five-year term as United States Director of the African Development Bank.

Her nomination was sent to the United States Senate on September 10, 2001, and she was confirmed on November 15, 2001.

Perry served through 2007, representing United States interests in an institution responsible for supporting economic and social development across Africa. She initially worked from the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and later in Tunis, Tunisia.

Perry served on the Texas Woman’s University Board of Regents from 1996 to 2001.

During this period, she also worked as director of International Investment Advisory Services for FCA Corporation in Houston and served as honorary consul general of Senegal.

Awards and honorary degrees

1987 – Indiana State University Distinguished Alumni Award.

1987 – NAACP President's Award.

2002 – University of Massachusetts Amherst Distinguished Alumni Award.

Honors and distinctions First African American woman to hold the position as a U.S. Ambassador for two separate countries Sierra Leone & Burundi

First woman to earn a doctorate from the International Education program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Appointed Honorary Consul General of Rwanda by President Paul Kagame and confirmed by the United States Department of State.

2021 Indiana State University Honored Cynthia Shepard Perry with a street naming ceremony proclaimed “Ambassador Cynthia Shepard Perry Way.”

The Ambassador Cynthia Shepard Perry Award was established at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to support international fieldwork by graduate students.

Personal life and death In November 1946, Perry married James Shepard, a mechanic.