The Foreign Service Journal, March 2004

international relations in 1948. He received his B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1949. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force from February 1943 to November 1945. Mr. Quinlan, known as “Pat,” joined the Foreign Service in 1950, and during a 30-year career served in Europe, Africa, South Asia and the Middle East — his area of specializa- tion. His A-1 class was trained as Kreis Resident Officers for Germany (local governing persons who were then replacing Army officers in such posi- tions), and Mr. Quinlan was posted to Frankfurt. In 1951 he was transferred to Berlin as a commercial specialist. He was posted to Karachi as a consular and political officer in 1953, then returned to State in 1956 to follow Berlin affairs. Two years later, he was sent to Kaduna as principal officer. In 1962, Mr. Quinlan was detailed to study Arabic at the FSI in Beirut. After graduating in 1964, he served in Yemen, Egypt, Turkey, Oman, Libya, and in the Department of State as public affairs officer for the Middle East. Mr. Quinlan was principal offi- cer in five of his ten posts abroad, and was responsible for opening three of these. Other “at home” assignments included on-loan duty at the Office of Economic Opportunity in Washing- ton, D.C. (1970-1972) and diplomat- in-residence at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. (1978-1979). In 1979 Mr. Quinlan was assigned as an adviser on Middle East affairs in the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in New York, where he was actively involved in negotiations to free the American hostages in Tehran. In 1980 Mr. Quinlan retired and moved back to Minnesota, where he was a constant voice for diplomacy. He taught Elderhostel and University of Minnesota Extension courses, and was a contributing commentator on radio and TV newscasts. He was a free-lance columnist for the Minn- eapolis Star Tribune , St. Paul Pioneer Press , Edina Sun Current , and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs . Mr. Quinlan was a founding mem- ber of AFSA Upper Midwest, and an active member of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Committee on Foreign Rel- ations, the United Nations Association of Minnesota, the Arab-American Anti- Discrimination Committee, Middle East Peace Now, and Interfaith Peace- makers of Edina. A vigorous advocate of closer cooperation between the U.S. and the Arab world, Mr. Quinlan also participated in the Upper Midwest Consortium for Middle East Outreach. Mr. Quinlan received the Depart- ment of State Meritorious Honor Award. “In recognition of his out- standing efforts on behalf of the Arab- American Community,” he received the Alex Odeh Award from the Minn- esota Chapter of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee. Mr. Quinlan is survived by his wife Louise, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Margaret, and brother, Robert. David M. Ransom , 65, retired FSO, former ambassador and Middle East specialist, died Dec. 4 in New York City after a heart attack. Ambassador Ransom was born in St. Louis and accompanied his father on Air Force assignments early in his life. He was a 1960 graduate of Princeton University, and received a master’s degree in international affairs at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in 1962. He then served three years in the Marine Corps. In 1965, Amb. Ransom joined the Foreign Service. He was posted to Tehran in 1967 as a consular officer, and a year later detailed to the FSI Arabic language school in Beirut. In 1969 he was transferred to Jeddah as a consular and economic officer, and in 1970 he returned to State. Fluent in Arabic, Mr. Ransom was thrice posted abroad as deputy chief of mission: to Sanaa (1975-1978), Abu Dhabi (1983-1985) and Damascus (1985-1988). He was ambassador to Bahrain from 1994 to 1997. During his career Amb. Ransom was assigned to the National Security Council staff (1973-1975) and to the Defense Department as director of the Near East, South Asia and Africa division (1978-1982). His honors in- clude the Defense Department Dis- tinguished Service Medal, the De- fense Superior Service Award and two State Department Superior Honor Awards. Amb. Ransom retired from the Foreign Service in 1997, and found- ed an international consulting firm that worked with investment and other projects in the Middle East. He was an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washing- ton, and a frequent lecturer on Middle East topics. Amb. Ransom combined a great affection and deep cultural empathy for the peoples of the Middle East with a tough-mind- ed attitude toward U.S. national security interests. As board vice chairman of the Rock Creek International School in Washington, Amb. Ransom played a 66 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 0 4 I N M E M O R Y