Richard Foote Pedersen
was a career United States State Department employee, veteran of WWII & President of the American University of Cairo.

Early life

Pedersen was born in Miami, Arizona and served in the European theater of operations during the war with the 44th Infantry. After the war, he received a bachelor degree from the College of the Pacific in international relations, his master's degree from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 and his doctorate from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

.

Diplomatic career

From 1953 to 1969 Pedersen served a tenure as with a posting to the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

. He served this role under five ambassadors, including Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.

Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.

Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. was a Republican United States Senator from Massachusetts and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, South Vietnam, West Germany, and the Holy See . He was the Republican nominee for Vice President in the 1960 Presidential election.-Early life:Lodge was born in Nahant,...

 and Adlai Stevenson during the Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...

. From January 23, 1969 until July 26, 1973, Pedersen served as Counselor of the United States Department of State

Counselor of the United States Department of State

The Counselor of the United States Department of State is a position within the United States Department of State that serves the Secretary of State as a special advisor and consultant on major problems of foreign policy and who provides guidance to the appropriate bureaus with respect to such...

, serving under Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

. In 1970 his phones were bugged by the Nixon White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

, in order to trace the Invasion of Cambodia.

United States Ambassador to Hungary

Between July 24, 1973 Pedersen was appointed 'Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Hungary)' and his credentials were presented on September 10, 1973. He left the post on March 26, 1975.

American University of Cairo

From 1977 until 1990, Pedersen served as the President of the American University of Cairo and led efforts to have the University receive full higher education accreditation

Higher education accreditation

Higher education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of post-secondary educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...

. He died in 2011 in Greenport, New York

Greenport, Suffolk County, New York

Greenport is a village in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located on the north fork of Long Island. The population was 2,048 at the 2000 census....

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Over 13 years he expanded the university from a small liberal-arts college to a much larger institution. He started a fund-raising campaign that supported the growth while increasing its endowment. It now enrolls about 5,000 students.