Frances D. Cook

Frances D. Cook
Cook in 1997
7th Ambassador of the United States to Burundi
In office September 25, 1980 – March 15, 1983
President	Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	Thomas J. Corcoran
Succeeded by	James R. Bullington
10th Ambassador of the United States to Cameroon
In office December 21, 1989 – January 1, 1993
President	George H.W. Bush
Preceded by	Mark L. Edelman
Succeeded by	Harriet W. Isom
8th Ambassador of the United States to Oman
In office January 2, 1996 – January 10, 1999
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	David J. Dunford
Succeeded by	John B. Craig
Personal details
Born	Frances Dee Cook (1945-09-07) September 7, 1945 Charleston, West Virginia, United States of America
Education	Mary Washington College (1967, B.A.) John F. Kennedy School of Government (1978, M.P.A.)

Frances Dee Cook (born September 7, 1945, Charleston, West Virginia) was a career Foreign Service Officer who was the US Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi from 1980–1983, Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon, 1989–1993 and she was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman on December 28, 1995.

As Ambassador to Oman and Consul General in Alexandria, Egypt, she was the first female chief of mission in the Persian Gulf, and the first female head of post in the Middle East for the United States.

Cook heads her own international business consulting firm, The Ballard Group and is Managing Director of the Quincy Group, a strategic advisory firm and merchant bank.

Early life and education

Cook was born in Charleston, West Virginia to Nash and Vivian Cook but grew up in Homestead, Florida. She earned a BA from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia in 1967. In 1978, she received a M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Career

After joining the Foreign Service in 1967 and completing language school, Cook’s first assignment was to be Special Assistant to Sargent Shriver, Ambassador to France from 1968–1969. Her future posts included being a member of the U.S. Delegation to Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam, 1970–1971; U.S. Consulate General, Sydney, Australia, 1971–1973; U.S. Embassy, Dakar, Senegal, 1973–1975; Personnel Officer for Africa, USIA, 1975–1977; Director of the Press Office, Bureau of African Affairs, Department of State, 1978–1980; Consul General, Alexandria, Egypt, 1983–1986; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Assistance, Bureau of Refugee Programs, 1986–1987; Director, Office of West Africa Affairs, Department of State, 1987–1989; and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security Affairs, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, 1993–1995. From 2010–2020, Cook served as a member of the board of trustees at The American College of the Mediterranean (ACM), an American-style degree-granting institution in Aix-en-Provence, France, which includes IAU College, a study abroad institute for undergraduates.