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Fluent in French, Thai and Japanese, Brother Perkins spent his entire professional career in international diplomacy.
occurred during the country’s Apartheid re- gime, where the country was under intense international scrutiny, policy restrictions and economic boycotts. In his autobiogra- phy, he recalled the South African Presi- dent whose administration enforced the country’s dehumanizing and discriminatory racial policies, and Perkins “were never to have a civil conversation during my entire time there.” Perkins’ three-year tenure as the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa was a contributing factor to the eventual demise of the Apartheid system. In 1989, Perkins returned to Washington, D.C. as Director-General of the Foreign Service and Director of Personnel. In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush appointed him the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, where he also served on the United Nations Security Council. In 1993, Perkins left the United Nations when U.S. President Bill Clinton appoint- ed him Ambassador to Australia. Perkins retired from government service in 1996 with the rank of Career Minister to become the William J. Crowe Professor in Geopolitics and Executive Director of the International Programs Center at the University of Oklahoma. He retired from the University in 2007. He was a senior advisor at the Stevenson Group, a Wash- ington, DC-based consulting firm. Ambassador Perkins served as President of the Association of Black American Ambassadors (ABAA). He also served for many years on the White House Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotia- tion. He was a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, the American Consortium for International Public Administration, the American Foreign Service Association, the American Society for Public Administration, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Pacific Council on International Policy, the Navy League,
the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Epsilon Boule of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Ambassador Perkins served on numer- ous boards, including the Cranlana Programme in Melbourne, Australia; the Steering Committee for the Center for Australia-New Zealand Studies at Georgetown University; the Institute for International Public Policy; the Board of Trustees of The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation; the Board of Visitors of the National Defense University; the Board of Directors of the National Academy for Public Administra- tion; and as a Life Trustee of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR. Throughout his distinguished foreign service career, Perkins received numer- ous awards and honors, including the Presidential Distinguished and Meritori- ous Service Awards; the Department of State Distinguished Honor and Superior Honor Award; the University of Southern California Distinguished Alumni Award; the Southern University Achievement Award; 1992 Statesman of the Year Award from George Washington University and the Links, Inc. Living Legend Award. In 1993, the Fraternity recognized Perkins, a Life Member, and his exemplary achieve- ments as a career foreign service officer with the conferring of the 43 rd Laurel Wreath. He received honorary degrees from Bowie State University, Lewis and Clark College, St. Augustine's College, St. John's University, University of Maryland, University of Southern California, and Winston-Salem State University. In addition to his 2006 memoirs entitled “Mr. Ambassador: Warrior for Peace,” Perkins published numerous books and
articles.
Ambassador Edward J. Perkins is preceded in death by his wife of 47 years, the former Lucy Cheng-mei Liu. He is survived by his daughters Katherine and Sarah, and four grandchildren.
Opposite page: Perkins at the United Nations Security Council. On this page: giving a presentation, and on the Cover of the February issue of the 1991 Journal.
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