Donald Norland

Donald Richard Norland (born June 14, 1924 in Laurens , Iowa , † December 30, 2007 in Washington, DC ) was an American diplomat .

Life

Donald Norland was the son of an educator and state MP . He grew up on a family farm and attended Iowa State Teachers College for a few years . During World War II he joined the United States Navy and was stationed in the Pacific . After the war, he studied at the University of Minnesota and graduated in political science in 1950 .

Norland entered the diplomatic service in 1952. He worked at the American Consulate General in Rabat , where he was responsible for cultural affairs. He then became Consul General of the United States in Abidjan , Ivory Coast . When a number of African countries gained independence in 1960, the United States quickly established diplomatic relations. Donald Norland headed the new diplomatic missions in Dahomey , Ivory Coast, Niger and Upper Volta for a few months in 1960 as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim , until ambassadors became active there. Norland spent most of the 1960s in Europe. He worked at the NATO headquarters in Paris and from 1964 to 1969 at the US embassy in The Hague .

In the early 1970s he returned to Africa, where he served as the Chargé d'Affaires as the deputy director of the American embassy in Conakry , Guinea . Norland was appointed US Ambassador to Botswana , Lesotho and Swaziland in 1976. He was accredited in the respective countries from 1976 in Botswana, from 1977 in Lesotho and from 1978 in Swaziland. He had his official seat in Gaborone in Botswana. In November 1979 he switched to Chad as ambassador . After a little over four months, during the beginning of the civil war , the embassy was closed. Norland and other foreign diplomats were brought to safety by the French armed forces in neighboring Cameroon . He retired as a diplomat in 1981 and subsequently worked as a freelance consultant on African affairs.

Donald Norland was married with three children, including diplomat Richard Norland .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Obituaries: Donald Norland; Career Diplomat And Specialist in African Affairs. In: The Washington Post. January 5, 2007, accessed February 24, 2017 . 
2. ^ ^{A b} Donald Richard Norland (1924-2007). Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State, accessed February 24, 2017 .