Donald B. Easum *53

Donald Easum, a retired career ambassador, died April 16, 2016, of natural causes. He was 92.

During World War II, Easum served in the Pacific with the Army Air Force. In 1947, he received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin. Attending Princeton, he earned a master’s in public administration from the Woodrow Wilson School in 1950, then a Ph.D. in politics in 1953. That year he joined the Foreign Service.

He served in Nicaragua, Indonesia, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and was ambassador to Upper Volta from 1971 to 1974 and then to Nigeria from 1975 to 1979. In Nigeria, he was instrumental in changing acrimonious relations with the United States, and contributed to the country’s first successful transition from military rule to a democratically elected government. He was proud of hosting Jimmy Carter on the first visit by a United States president to sub-Saharan Africa.

During the Nixon-Ford Administration, Easum was assistant secretary of state for African affairs. Earlier assignments were with United States Agency for International Development and the National Security Council. He retired in 1980, and became president of the Africa-America Institute from 1980 to 1988. This was followed by more than 20 years of lecturing, nonprofit board memberships, and work on human-rights causes.

Easum was predeceased in 1992 by his wife, Augusta. He is survived by four children and nine grandchildren.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.