THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2023 75 Mr. McGann earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Claremont McKenna College, and from 1975 to 1978, he pursued graduate studies in comparative government at Cornell University. He went on to earn a master of science degree from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. In 1978, Mr. McGann joined the U.S. Foreign Service, marking the start of what would be a long and decorated career devoted to public service. That same year he married Doris Bolen in Mount Holly, N.J. The couple had two sons, Leyland Seth McGann (1978) and Steven Bryce McGann (19812006). The marriage ended in divorce. In 1989, Mr. McGann married Bertra Bradford in Austin, Texas, and welcomed daughter Bethany Lauren McGann (1990), son Bradford Warren McGann (1992), and son Benjamin Vance Stevenson McGann (1995). In 2008 he was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, the Kingdom of Tonga, and Tuvalu, guiding U.S. policy in the Pacific from 2008 to 2011. He also served as deputy commandant and international affairs adviser of the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at the National Defense University and became the first vice chancellor of the College of International Security Affairs there. During his 40-year tenure, he became a member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor. Ambassador McGann’s commitment to public service and drive to mentor the next generation of foreign affairs professionals continued after his retirement from the Foreign Service. He served on numerous boards and advisory committees, including as co-chair of the Women’s Refugee Commission, president of the Association of Black American Ambassadors, and adviser on the Council of Advisors for Black Professionals in International Affairs. In 2015 Amb. McGann joined the board of trustees of Claremont McKenna College, bringing his academic endeavors full circle as he gave back to the next generation of political science students through his support of the school’s Washington Program. He also founded The Stevenson Group, an international consulting firm specializing in providing strategic counsel to clients, and was an affiliate of the Walsh School of Foreign Service’s Center for Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Studies at Georgetown University. On Feb. 2, 2023, Amb. McGann was honored by the Thursday Luncheon Group with the Pioneer Award in recognition of his support, advocacy for, and mentorship of African American foreign affairs professionals. In his quieter moments, he was a classic car enthusiast and a jazz aficionado. He will be remembered forever as a child of New York City and a citizen of the world. He made friends everywhere he went, and nurtured a network that spans geographies and generations. Amb. McGann is survived by his wife, Bertra; his mother, Evangeline Marshburn Hutson; and his children: Leyland Seth McGann, Bethany Lauren McGann, Bradford Warren McGann, and Benjamin Vance Stevenson McGann. In lieu of flowers, donations in Amb. McGann’s memory may be sent to The Arc of Northern Virginia: https:// thearcofnova.org/. n Joan McKniff, 82, a retired Foreign Service officer, died at home in Florida on April 17, 2023. Ms. McKniff was born in 1941 and raised in Lowell, Mass. Although she went on to live around the world and earned enough money to one day leave the Ringling Museum of Art a sizable legacy, she never forgot her workingclass roots nor lost her Lowell accent. The time she spent in Lowell as a student, cheerleading for the high school football team and leading others in all sorts of activities, set the path for the rest of her life. Ms. McKniff’s college years were spent at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She was an active member of the class of 1963, where she served on a number of committees and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She performed with the Precisionettes drill team, marching alongside the band at sporting events. They were busy and fun-filled years. Fresh out of college, Ms. McKniff headed to Villa Restrepo in the Tolima department of Colombia, to work in rural community development and public health as a Peace Corps volunteer. By the time President John F. Kennedy was assassinated a few months later, Ms. McKniff had so endeared herself to the villagers—who thought that she would have to leave town since her patron was no longer in office—that they committed to providing her with sustenance, mostly eggs, if she would stay. Returning to the United States in 1965, Ms. McKniff discovered her friends were protesting the Vietnam War. Certain that she didn’t know enough about the war to take a stand, she joined the Red Cross as a Donut Dolly supporting U.S. servicemembers and shipped out. Rumor has it that she was the only Donut Dolly to learn Vietnamese, which led others to suspect that she was really a CIA agent; but no one cared because her
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