The Foreign Service Journal, January 2004

Harry Ackerman , 79, retired USAID official, died of lung cancer on Sept. 25 in Tucson, Ariz. A native of Arizona, Mr. Ackerman received a law degree from the University of Arizona in 1952 and was a member of the state bar. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1943 to 1946. Mr. Ackerman joined USAID in 1962. He served as a congressional adviser for USAID/State on Latin American affairs from 1962 to 1967 in Washington, D.C. From 1967 to 1971 he was posted in Panama as deputy director of the USAID mis- sion. From 1974 to 1977 he directed the USAID mission in Quito. From 1977 to 1980 he served in Guatemala City as director of ROCAP, the Regional Office of Central American Programs. He retired in 1980. Mr. Ackerman is survived by his wife Vivian, three children and five grandchildren. Findley Burns Jr. , 86, retired FSO and former ambassador, died Oct. 14 at his home in Southern Pines, N.C. Mr. Burns was born in Baltimore, Md. He was a graduate of Princeton University and of the National War College. He entered the Foreign Service in 1941. His postings included Madrid, Brussels, Warsaw, London, Vienna, Berlin and Washington. In the latter part of his career he served as ambas- sador to Jordan (1966-68) and to Ecuador (1970-73). He retired from the Foreign Service following that assignment, and from 1974 to 1980 worked at the United Nations in New York, where he was director of the Office of Technical Cooperation. Amb. Burns is survived by his wife Martha and two sisters. William Stuart Caldwell , 82, for- mer FSO, died Nov. 1 of cancer in Northridge, Calif. Born in Farmer, S.D., and raised in several small towns in South Dakota and Minnesota, Mr. Caldwell graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1943. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II, and served in medical and training positions at various domestic military installations. Mr. Caldwell joined the Foreign Service in 1945. He served as third secretary in Embassy Rome, and as director of the U.S. Information Service at the U.S. Consulate in Palermo. One of his key accomplish- ments during this period was provid- ing U.S. support to the Christian Democratic Party, which defeated the Communist Party in the Italian elec- tions of 1948. This election was a cru- cial turning point, preventing the fur- ther spread of communism into Western Europe. In 1950 Mr. Caldwell left the Foreign Service and began a long aca- demic career, studying and teaching political science and journalism, with an emphasis on international affairs. He taught at a number of institutions including the University of Minn- esota, the University of North Carol- ina, Chapel Hill; the University of California, Los Angeles; and the University of Southern California. While at USC in the 1960s, he was the editor of the academic journal Communist Affairs . Mr. Caldwell’s political and acade- mic pursuits took him all over the world, particularly to Western Eur- ope, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. He also participated in the League of Sister Cities and the Unit- ed Nations Association. He is survived by five children, Bonnie Jane Stroock of Rancho Mirage, Calif.; Angela Marie Reiner and Ralph William Caldwell of Rese- da, Calif.; Stephen Leslie Caldwell of Bethesda, Md.; and William S. Caldwell Jr. of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. Mary Pearl Dougherty , 88, retired member of the Foreign Service, died Nov. 13 at The Method- ist Home in Washington, D.C., after a long illness. Ms. Dougherty was the mentor for several generations of young black Foreign Service officers, including Ambassador Edward Per- kins, the first African-American ambassador to South Africa, who later became ambassador to Australia and the United Nations. Born in Alabama, Mary Dougherty 72 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 4 I N M EMORY