Willis, Frances Elizabeth, 1899-1983

Frances Elizabeth Willis (May 20, 1899, Metropolis IL – July 23, 1983, Redlands CA)[1] was an American diplomat who served as the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, Norway and Sri Lanka. She was the third woman to enter the U.S. Foreign Service in 1927 and the first woman to make a career of it. Frances Willis graduated from Stanford University with an AB (Phi Beta Kappa) in History in 1920 and received a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford in 1923, becoming the first person to receive a doctorate in political science from Stanford. She taught history at Goucher College for one year, then political science at Vassar College as an assistant professor from 1924 to 1927.

She entered the Civil Service in 1927 Willis held posts starting in Chile in 1928, then Sweden, Belgium and Spain during WW II, the U.S. State Department, England, Finland, Switzerland, Norway and Sri Lanka. She was appointed ambassador to the last three posts, retiring at 65 from Sri Lanka in 1964 In 1953 Dwight Eisenhower appointed her as the first United States Ambassador to Switzerland; she served in that role until 1957.[5][7][8] While serving as ambassador she was the only woman to attend the Big Four Summit Conference in Geneva. Willis also served as Ambassador to Norway from 1957 until 1961, and Ambassador to Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, from 1961 until 1964.[7] After her retirement she was appointed U.S. delegate to the 20th United Nations General Assembly's Third Commission Human Rights and Social Development, working with Arthur Goldberg. In 1966 she was appointed head of the U.S. Delegation to the Fifteenth Session of the Kennedy Round of Tariffs in Geneva.[11] She was also appointed chairman (as she insisted on calling her title) of the University of Redlands Johnston College Board of Overseers and Long Range Planning Committee.

1899, May 20 Born, Metropolis, Illinois
1916-1917 University of Redlands
1917-1920 B.A., History, Stanford University
1920-1921 Graduate work, Universite Libre de Bruxelles
1923 Ph.D., Political Science, Stanford University
1923-1924 Instructor, History, Goucher College, Baltimore, Maryland
1924-1927 Assistant Professor, Political Science, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York
1927 Foreign Service Exam Vice-Consul, Valparaiso, Chile
1931, January Vice-Consul, Santiago, Chile
1931, December Third Secretary, Stockholm, Sweden
1934-1940 Third Secretary, Brussels, Belgium Second Secretary, Luxembourg
1940-1944 Second Secretary, Madrid, Spain First Secretary, Madrid, Spain Consul, Madrid, Spain
1944-1947 Assistant to the Undersecretary of State, Washington, D.C.
1947-1951 First Secretary and Consul, London, England
1951-1953 Counselor of Legation, Helsinki, Finland
1953-1957 Ambassador to Switzerland
1955 Appointed Career Minister
1957-1961 Ambassador to Norway
1962 Appointed Career Ambassador
1961-1964 Ambassador to Sri Lanka
1964, November 5 Retirement
1983, July 20 Died, Redlands, California