Frances E. Willis
U.S. diplomat (1899-1983)
Frances Elizabeth Willis (May 20, 1899, Metropolis IL – July 23, 1983, Redlands CA) was an American diplomat who served as the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, Norway and Sri Lanka. She was the third woman to enter the U.S. Foreign Service in 1927 and the first woman to make a career of it.
Early life and education
Frances Willis graduated from Stanford University with an AB (Phi Beta Kappa) in History in 1920 and received a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford in 1923, becoming the first person to receive a doctorate in political science from Stanford. She taught history at Goucher College for one year, then political science at Vassar College as an assistant professor from 1924 to 1927.
She entered the Civil Service in 1927 because "the more I taught, the more I realized how little I actually knew about Government. I decided to find out firsthand what it was like."
Foreign Service career
Willis held posts starting in Chile in 1928, then Sweden, Belgium and Spain during WW II, the U.S. State Department, England, Finland, Switzerland, Norway and Sri Lanka. She was appointed ambassador to the last three posts, retiring at 65 from Sri Lanka in 1964. During her Foreign Service career she became the first woman designated chargé d'affaires, the first woman appointed deputy chief of mission, the first female Foreign Service officer (FSO) appointed ambassador, the first woman to serve as ambassador to three posts, the first woman appointed Career Minister in 1955 and the first woman appointed to the rank of Career Ambassador in 1962. In 1963, Willis was a recipient of the prestigious Career Service Award, given to the most outstanding Foreign Service Officers in the Department of State.
Frances Willis was stationed as a Second Secretary in Brussels, Belgium, when WW II broke out in May 1940.
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