Jendayi Elizabeth Frazer is known worldwide as a policy leader and expert on African Affairs. She was a member of the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University since 2009, and has been a Distinguished Public Service Professor in the Heinz College's School of Public Policy and Management. Ambassador Frazer was the leading architect of U.S.-Africa policy for nearly a decade, serving as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from August 2005 to January 2009. She was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council from January 2001 until her swearing-in as the first woman U.S. Ambassador to South Africa in June 2004. In recognition of her contributions, Secretary Condoleezza Rice presented Frazer with the Distinguished Service Award in January 2009, the highest award bestowed by the Secretary of State. In July 2010, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia awarded Frazer with the distinction of Dame Grand Commander in the Humane Order of African Redemption. Dr. Frazer received her B.A. degree in Political Science (honors) and African and Afro-American Studies (distinction) in 1985, and M.A. degrees in International Policy Studies in 1985 and International Development Education in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Political Science, 1994 all from Stanford University.
