Samuel Ellison Belk, III (b. June 9, 1920, in Monroe, North Carolina) earned his B.A. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1949. He went on to earn an M.A. from the University of California in 1952 and completed postgraduate work at the University of London and the London School of Economics. In late 1952, Belk began work at the Central Intelligence Agency as a foreign policy officer, a position he held until 1959. In September 1959, Belk became a member of the Special Staff of the National Security Council Staff under James S. Lay Jr. In the words of Lay, the Special Staff was "responsible for providing advice and assistance in developing recommendations on national security policies for consideration by the national security council." Belk joined the Kennedy administration in January 1961 as one of several staff assistants to McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant to the President for National Security affairs. Belk's main areas of responsibilities were Africa and the United Nations, along with learning the operations of the National Security Council as they had been developed under the Eisenhower Administration. Belk left the National Security Council in early 1965 to work at the State Department, first as government coordinator for the International Cooperation Year and later as assistant director of the State Department's international education program.
From the description of Belk, Samuel E. (Samuel Ellison), 1920- (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 10572328
