Frank Crigler

T. Frank Crigler "entered the U. S. Foreign Service in 1961, and retired in 1990 after almost thirty years of service. Included in his assignments were appointments as American envoy to Rwanda in the late 1970s and to Somalia a decade later. He hailed originally from Arizona, where he was born in 1935. Before entering on duty as a Foreign Service officer, he earned a bachelor's degree magna cum laude from Harvard University.

"Assigned first to the Department of State as an intelligence analyst for Latin America, Frank next served at the U. S. consulate general at Guadalajara, Mexico, and then Embassy Mexico City, where he returned in 1974-1976 as a political officer. For the period 1966 to 1971, he held assignments in Africa: political officer at Embassy Kinshasa and and principal officer at Consulates Bukavu and Kisangani, Zaire; economic officer and chargé at Embassy Libreville, Gabon. In addition to his ambassadorial appointments in Africa, Frank served abroad also as deputy chief of mission and chargé at the U. S. embassy at Bogota, 1979-1981.

"Washington assignments, aside from his initial position as intelligence analyst, included political advisor to the U. S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, American Political Science Fellow with the U. S. Congress, Director of Mexican Affairs in State (1981-1983), and senior Foreign Service inspector, based in Washington (1983-1986).

"After retiring, Frank taught international affairs at Simmons College in Boston for two years. As a private consultant in foreign relations, he has expressed his views on foreign policy issues frequently, especially with regard to Africa and Mexico, before the Congress, in the press, and on national television. Since 1996, when he moved with his wife, Bettie, to Durham, North Carolina, he has been associated with Duke University as a fellow with the Center for International Development Research -- as well as with American Diplomacy."

"In 1961 Mr. Crigler joined the Foreign Service and was assigned as an intelligence analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Mr. Crigler became political officer at the American consulate general in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1963. He served at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, as consular officer, 1964 - 1966; political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, Zaire, 1966 - 1967; American consul (resident) in Bukavu, Zaire, April to July 1967; American consul (nonresident) in Kisangani, Zaire, 1967 - 1969; political-economic officer at the U.S. Embassy in Libreville, Gabon, 1969 - 1970; and political adviser at the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States in Washington, DC, 1970. Mr. Crigler received a congressional fellowship where he served first on the staff of Representative Frank Thompson (NJ) and then with Senator Lloyd Bentsen (TX). In August 1974 Mr. Crigler went to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico as political officer, where he served until he was appointed Ambassador to Kigali, Rwanda, in September 1976. He became deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, 1979, and Charge d'Affaires, 1979 - 1981; Director of the Office of Mexican Affairs, 1981 - 1983; and Senior Inspector, Office of the Inspector General at the Department of State, 1983."