Cynthia Shepard Perry

Cynthia Shepard Perry "is the United States Executive Director of the African Development Bank. A native of Indiana, Dr. Perry was the US Ambassador to Sierra Leone from 1986-1989 and to Burundi from 1989-1993.

"Her career began in 1957 with the Nichols Investment Corporation. Dr. Perry later joined the IBM Corporation as an educational representative in the Office Products Division. From 1968-1971, she was the Director of the National Teachers Corps at the University of Massachusetts, where she received her Doctorate in International Education in 1972. Joining the faculty of Texas Southern University in 1971, she was an Associate Professor and Associate Director of Teacher Corps/Peace Corps and then became a full Professor and Dean of International Affairs from 1978-1982.

"Her first assignment to Africa was at the University of Nairobi in 1968 through Operation Crossroads Africa. From 1971-1973, Mrs. Perry and her husband, Dr. James O. Perry, trained a group of Peace Corps volunteers in Sierra Leone. In 1974, she led a special educational delegation to Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia. She lived in Kenya from 1974-1976, trained Peace Corps paramedical volunteers, lectured at the University of Nairobi and was a consultant to the US Information Service in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. In 1976, she was appointed Staff Development Officer at the UN Economic Commission for Africa. From 1982 until her appointment, Mrs. Perry was Chief of the Education and Human Resources Division in the Africa Bureau of the US Agency for International Development."