Patricia Lynch Ewell

Patricia Gates Lynch Ewell "was the United States Ambassador to Madagascar and the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros from 1986 through 1989, one of only ten women serving as a US Ambassador at the time.

"Before her diplomatic appointment, she spent a quarter of a century with the Voice of America. Known there as Pat Gates, she hosted VOA’s worldwide “Breakfast Show” with an estimated audience of 45 million listeners. Prior to joining the Voice of America, Pat Gates reported for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the American Forces Network (AFN) from Western Europe, the Soviet Union, Iran, Hungary, Poland and Turkey. She served on the White House staff as press assistant to Mrs. Richard Nixon and accompanied the First Lady and the President on their official visits to many world capitals. During the Vietnam War, she flew into Vietnam with President and Mrs. Nixon on Air Force One. After her tour at the White House, she returned to VOA hosting the Breakfast Show at her Voice of America microphone. During that time, she lectured and conducted interviews for the program in the People’s Republic of China, where she was a guest of Radio Beijing. She also made lecture tours to Africa, India, Pakistan, Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia, Iran and Australia before giving up her microphone for diplomacy.

"After her ambassadorial assignment, Pat Gates Lynch Ewell continued her career in international radio as Director of Corporate Affairs for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She has been President of the Washington Chapter of American Women in Radio and Television and Chairman of the Washington International Committee of the Red Cross.

"Ambassador Lynch Ewell is Chairman of the Board of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, housed at the Foreign Service Institute, Vice President of the Council of American Ambassadors, and a Board member of the American Academy of Diplomacy. She is a member of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs and is on the Board of Visitors of the Primate Center of Duke University. She is a member of the American News Women’s Club."