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Remembering Edward Perkins, first U.S. Black ambassador to South Africa and USC Price alumnus
December 11, 2020
By Andrea Klick, student reporter
Edward Perkins spent his life and career in government creating change for underrepresented populations in the U.S. and around the world. Perkins, who graduated with his masters and Ph.D. from USC Price and served as the first Black U.S. ambassador to South Africa during the final decade of apartheid, died Nov. 7 at a hospital in Washington. He was 92 and passed from complications after a stroke, according to
The New York Times.
New US ambassador to South Africa Edward J. Perkins at State Department. (Photo by Cynthia Johnson/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Pioneer, Bridge Builder and Statesman A Conversation with Ambassador Edward J. Perkins
Ambassador Edward J. Perkins is the 2020 Recipient of the Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy.
NOTE: Ambassador Edward J. Perkins died on Nov. 7, days before this interview about his life and work went to press. He was 92. We extend our condolences to the family and are particularly grateful to his daughters, Katherine and Sarah, for helping to make this well-deserved tribute possible.
President Ronald Reagan talks with Ambassador to South Africa Edward J. Perkins at the White House in May 1987. Seated at right are Secretary of State George Shultz, U.S. National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci and, at far right, National Security Council Senior Director for Africa Hank Cohen.