William B. Edmondson

William Brockway Edmondson (February 6, 1927 – December 5, 2013) was an American diplomat in the United States Foreign Service, who served as the United States Ambassador to South Africa from 1978-1981.

Biography Edmondson was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, but spent his formative years in Nebraska. After graduating from high school in Peru, Nebraska, he joined the U.S. Army, serving from 1944 to 1948 and reaching the rank of First Lieutenant. He received an A.B. from the University of Nebraska in 1950 and an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1951.

Edmondson joined the United States Department of State as an intern in 1951. Later that same year he married the former Donna Elizabeth Kiechel, whom he had met at the University of Nebraska. In 1952 he was appointed as Vice Consul and deputy principal officer in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika, where he served from 1953 to 1955. From 1955 to 1957, he was economic officer in Bern, Switzerland. In 1957-58, he pursued African area studies at Northwestern University. From 1976 to 1978 he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs at the State Department. His departure, six months into Ronald Reagan's Administration, was heralded by the Afrikaans press and the white National Party, both of which hoped for better relations with the new administration. (In fact, the Reagan Administration's subsequent adoption of the policy of constructive engagement in many ways rewarded those hopes, until that policy was ended by the enactment of economic sanctions by the U.S. Congress in 1986, overriding President Reagan's veto.)

Following the completion of his service as the American Ambassador to South Africa in 1981, Edmondson served in the Inspector General’s Office at the U.S. Department of State, eventually as Deputy Inspector General. He retired from the State Department in 1986.

Edmondson was married to Donna Kiechel Edmondson of Prescott, Arizona. They had two children.