Brandon H. Grove Jr. *52

Brandon Grove, a U.S. ambassador and head of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) during a 35-year career at the State Department, died May 20, 2016, of cancer. He was 87. 

Grove graduated from Bard College in 1950 and earned a master of public affairs degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School in 1952. After service in the Navy, he started at the State Department in 1959 and performed consular duties in Africa, New Delhi, Berlin, and Jerusalem. 

Grove also held administrative posts in Washington, such as senior inspector at the FSI and as deputy assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, before being appointed ambassador to Zaire in 1984. He was named director of the FSI in 1988 and retired in 1994. 

From 1994 to 2001, he was a senior consultant for APCO Associates in Washington, and from 2006 to 2008 he was president of the American Academy of Diplomacy. He wrote of his adventures and lessons learned in his book, Behind Embassy Walls: The Life and Times of an American Diplomat. 

Grove was predeceased by his wife, Mariana. He is survived by four children from his first marriage to Marie, a step-daughter, and seven grandchildren. 

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.