Pamela Willeford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pamela Pitzer Willeford (b. March 1950) is the previous United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Her assignment as ambassador ended in September 2006. Willeford was succeeded by Peter R. Coneway as ambassador, who was sworn in on September 7, 2006.
She grew up in Breckenridge, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin.
Willeford became a public- and private-school teacher in Dallas, starting around the early 1970s. During the 1980’s, she was a trustee of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Austin; she worked prominently in the expansion of the school. In the Texas State Preservation Board, she has been Director of Development, and coordinated its Texas Capitol Rededication project. She began serving on the Board and the Executive Committee of the Texas Book Festival upon their creation in 1996, and as of 2003 had continued to without interruption.
Willeford worked on developing education policy and promoting community service in Texas. She was appointed to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in 1995, by Governor George W. Bush. She served on the board for 8 years, being promoted to chairwoman in 1998. During her tenure as chairwoman, the Board developed a new higher-education plan for the state.
She has been involved in numerous civic organizations, including The Helping Hand Home for Children, SafePlace Center for Battered Women, Trinity Episcopal School, The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, and the Junior League of Austin. She was awarded "Volunteer Extraordinaire" by the Junior League of Austin in 2002 and "Woman of Distinction" from the Girl Scouts Lone Star Council in 2003. She has also served as Advisory Committee Chairman for The Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries and is currently its Chair.
In 2003, she was nominated as U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, on July 30, by President Bush, in anticipation of Mercer Reynolds III leaving that post. She was sworn in on October 27, and continues as of 2006.
She is married to Dr. George Willeford, III, an Austin physician, and they have two grown children.
She is a longtime Bush family friend, and she and her immediate family have given a total of $23,200 to Republicans during the 2000, 2002, and 2004 election cycles.
On February 11, 2006, she was one of the party of three hunters when Dick Cheney accidentally shot the third member.
