Thomas McElhiney

Thomas Watkins McElhiney (January 22, 1919, West Union, West Virginia, United States – January 17, 1998, Baltimore) was an American diplomat and UNRWA's Commissioner-General from 1977 to 1979.[1]

Thomas McElhiney
Commissioner-General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
In office April 1977 – April 1979
Secretary General	Kurt Waldheim
Preceded by	John Rennie
Succeeded by	Olof Rydbeck
Inspector General of the Department of State
In office July 1, 1971 – July 18, 1973
President	Richard Nixon
Preceded by	Fraser Wilkins
Succeeded by	James S. Sutterlin
United States Ambassador to Ghana
In office September 14, 1968 – May 29, 1971
President	Lyndon B. Johnon Richard Nixon
Preceded by	Franklin Williams
Succeeded by	Fred L. Hadsel
Personal details
Born	January 22, 1919 West Union, West Virginia, U.S.
Died	January 17, 1998 (aged 78) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Education	Johns Hopkins University (BA) Cornell University

McElhiney grew up in West Virginia, New York City and the Mount Washington neighborhood of Baltimore.[2] Educated at Johns Hopkins University for undergrad and studied after at Cornell University, McElhiney served in the Army Corps of Engineers in World War II. Joining the Foreign Service in 1946, he rose to be deputy chief of mission in the Sudan. He served as U.S. ambassador to Ghana from 1968 to 1971, and then as Inspector-General of the Foreign Service until retirement in 1974. He then joined the United Nations as deputy commissioner of UNRWA, rising to serve as commissioner from 1977 until his retirement in 1979.[3]

McElhiney was the son of William James McElhiney and Elza Jones McElhiney. He married the former Helen Lawrence Lippincott, of Baltimore, Maryland, on September 7, 1946. The McElhineys had three children: Helen Townley McElhiney, Richard Lippincott McElhiney, and William Dashiell McElhiney.

McElhiney died January 17, 1998, aged 78, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.[3]

References

1. Benjamin N. Schiff, Refugees Unto the Third Generation: UN Aid to Palestinians, (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995), p. 293.
2. Obituaries, The Baltimore Sun, January 24, 1998
3. Deaths, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 1998, p.121

External links

• McElhiney Family Genealogy