Sally Shelton-Colby

Sally Angela Shelton-Colby (born August 29, 1944) is an American diplomat. She was Ambassador of the United States to Barbados, Grenada and Dominica as well as Minister to St Lucia, and Special Representative to Antigua, St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, and St. Vincent from 1979 to 1981, under Jimmy Carter.[1][2][3][4]

Sally Angela Shelton-Colby
United States Ambassador to Barbados
In office June 7, 1979 – February 24, 1981 accredited to Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Lucia
President	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Frank V. Ortiz, Jr.
Succeeded by	Milan D. Bish
Personal details
Born	August 29, 1944 San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Eduardo Jimenez William Colby
Alma mater	University of Missouri Johns Hopkins University Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Profession	Diplomat, Professor

Early life

Sally Shelton-Colby was born on 29 August 1944 in San Antonio, Texas.[5] She grew up in Monett, Missouri, where she was a cheerleader.[6][7] One of her grandfathers was a personal friend of Texas Congressman Clark W. Thompson.[7]

Shelton initially attended Southern Methodist University and tried to transfer to Princeton University, but she was rejected because they did not accept women.[7] Instead, she transferred to the University of Missouri,[8] where she received a B.A. in French. She received an MA in International relations from Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She was also a Fulbright scholar at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris.[1][4][9]

Career

She worked as legislative assistant to Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen during his 1976-onwards mandate.[1][4] She was nominated to become United States Ambassador to El Salvador in 1977, but her nomination was rejected.[7] However, she was confirmed to serve as the United States Ambassador to Grenada and Barbados from 1979 to 1981.[1] In the Clinton administration, she was an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.[4][10] She was also Deputy Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).[4][10] She was Vice-President for the Bankers Trust in New York City.[4][10] She also worked for Valero Energy Corporation.[4][10]

She has taught at Georgetown University,[11][12] Texas A&M University, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, American University and Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.[10] She currently teaches at American University in Washington, D.C.[3][4]

She has been involved with Helen Keller International, the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the Atlantic Council of the U.S, the Center for International Environmental Law, the American Hospital of Paris,[10] the Osgood Center for International Studies,[13] the American Academy of Diplomacy,[14] etc. She is currently a board member of the Pan American Health and Education Foundation and serves as Director of the La Pietra Coalition at Vital Voices.[10][15]

Personal life

Shelton-Colby met her first husband, Eduardo Jimenez, at the SAIS.[7][16] He was a lawyer when they were married.[7] After they divorced, he served as the Mexican Ambassador to Iceland and Norway.[7] Shelton-Colby stated he was employed by President of Mexico Adolfo López Mateos and was a part of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).[6]

She met her second husband, former Director of Central Intelligence William Colby, in 1982, when he was still married to his first wife, Barbara Colby.[3] Their wedding took place in Italy in 1984.[3] They lived in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. and remained married until his death in 1996.[3][17] In 2011, she disavowed The Man Nobody Knew, a documentary directed and narrated by her stepson Carl Colby.[3]

References

1. U.S. Department of State, Archives
2. U.S. Department of State, Barbados
3. Ian Shapira, A film by the son of CIA spymaster William Colby has divided the Colby clan, The Washington Post, November 19, 2011. "The couple bonded over their backgrounds in foreign policy. And she, too, had been in a tired marriage — to a Mexican ambassador — that fell apart."
4. American University faculty webpage
5. Europa Publications, The International Who's Who 2004, Routledge, 2003, p. 1536
6. Kennedy, Charles Stewart (interviewer). "Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Women Ambassadors Series AMBASSADOR SALLY SHELTON-COLBY" (Archive). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST). Interviews began: July 22, 1991.
7. Rosenfeld, Megan (May 17, 1979). "The Driven Diplomat". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
8. Kennedy, p. 3.
9. Former Fullbrighters of Note Archived 2008-11-16 at the Wayback Machine
10. PAHEF
11. Jon Nordheimer, 'Couples Who Tread 225-Mile Tightrope', New York Times, August 22, 1991
12. Georgetown University Faculty Archived 2008-12-24 at the Wayback Machine
13. Osgood Center for International Studies Board members Archived 2009-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
14. American Academy of Diplomacy Archived 2009-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
15. Vital Voices
16. The Executive Female, Volumes 3–4. National Association for Female Executives, 1980. Page 51. "Then she fell in love, and through the man she later married, Eduardo Jimenez, a Mexican lawyer, she became interested in Latin America and the Caribbean."
17. Tim Weiner, Body of William Colby Is Found on Riverbank, The New York Times, May 7, 1996