McHenry, Donald F.

October 13, 1936

Born in St. Louis, United Nations (UN) ambassador Donald F. McHenry grew up in an impoverished neighborhood in East St. Louis, Illinois, and graduated from Illinois State University in 1957. He received his master's degree from Southern Illinois University in 1959 and then became an English instructor at Howard University. After studying international relations at Georgetown University, he joined the Department of State as a foreign affairs officer in the Dependent Areas Section, Office of UN Political Affairs (1963–1966). He briefly served as assistant to the secretary of state, and from 1968 to 1969 he acted as special assistant to the counselor of the Department of State.

The Brookings Institute invited McHenry to be guest scholar (1971–1973), during which time he also was a lecturer at Georgetown University. He then was director of humanitarian policy studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1973–1977) and lectured at American University in 1975.

President Jimmy Carter named McHenry deputy representative in the UN Security Council. He and his friend, UN Ambassador Andrew Young, established a good relationship and complemented each other at the UN. From 1978 to 1979 McHenry worked with Angola to strengthen its relationship with the United States and brought an end to negotiations on a UN plan for Namibia independence. McHenry was chief U.S. negotiator for other UN plans involving South Africa.

After Young resigned under pressure on August 15, 1979, McHenry was sworn in the following month as U.S. permanent representative to the UN and ambassador and U.S. deputy representative to the UN Security Council, remaining in that office until January 20, 1981. Since that time, McHenry has served on the board of directors of several prominent corporations, including Coca-Cola, AT&T, International Paper, and Fleet National Bank, and has held a number of board and trustee positions in nonprofit organizations and foundations. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and principal owner and president of the IRC Group, an international consulting firm based in Washington, D.C.

See also Politics in the United States

Bibliography

Current Biography Yearbook. New York: Wilson, 1980.

jessie carney smith (1996)
Updated by publisher 2005