Pamela Bridgewater was nominated on May 11, 2005, by President Bush to be the next Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana and the U.S. Senate confirmed her in June 2005. From September 2004 through May 2005 Ambassador Bridgewater served as Diplomat-in-Residence at Howard University.
Ambassador Bridgewater was appointed U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in December 2002 and served there through September 2004. She managed the Department's relationship with 16 countries in West Africa, Economic and Commercial Policies and Programs, and Public Diplomacy Programs for all of Africa below the Sahara. Her superb skills in public diplomacy meant that she was able to comprehend and enhance the global objectives of public diplomacy while consistently focusing on the personal diplomacy and specific programs that bring daily successes with foreign counterparts and which create the foundation of mutual understanding with the US. At the height of the civil war in Liberia, she was named Special Coordinator for Peace in Liberia.
Pamela Bridgewater's life journey has taken her from the halls of Walker-Grant Elementary and High School in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Virginia State University in Petersburg, to countries all over the world. She has led diplomatic efforts that have helped to change the course of world events.
Ms. Bridgewater served as U.S. Ambassador to Benin from 2000-2002 and Deputy Chief of Mission in Nassau, Bahamas from 1996-1999. Bridgewater was the longest serving U.S. Diplomat in South Africa (Pretoria, 1990-1993, Durban 1993-1996) and the first African-American woman to be appointed Consul General in Durban. She also served in Brussels, Belgium and in Kingston, Jamaica.
Bridgewater entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1980 after a teaching career at Morgan State University and Bowie State University in Maryland, and Voorhees College in South Carolina.
She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Virginia State, and a Master's Degree in Political Science from the University of Cincinnati. She advanced to candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in International Studies at The American University School of International Service. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Virginia State University in 1997, and received the National Order of Benin in 2002.
Recognized for her innovative approach to promoting U.S. business interests in Benin specifically, and in Africa overall, Bridgewater received the 2002 Charles E. Cobb, Jr. Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development.
She is also the recipient of three Department of State Superior Honor Awards and Senior Presidential Performance Pay. She speaks fluent French.
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