Smythe-Haith, Mabel M. 1918–2006

(Mabel Murphy Smythe)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born April 3, 1918, in Montgomery, AL; died February 7, 2006, in Tuscaloosa, AL. Government official, diplomat, educator, and author. Smythe-Haith was an economics professor who later worked for the U.S. Department of State and was a former ambassador to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. She received her A.B. from Mount Holyoke College in 1937, followed by an M.A. from Northwestern University in 1940 and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1942, both graduate degrees being in economics. During her early teaching career, she worked at several universities. Beginning at Lincoln University during World War II, she taught economics and business administration and was acting department head. A year-long period at Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College was followed by her joining Brooklyn College's faculty in 1946. She was an economics lecturer there for a year before pursuing a freelance writing career from 1948 to 1951. With her first husband, the late sociologist and American ambassador Hugh H. Smythe (she later was married to the late Robert Haith), she traveled extensively, including to Japan and Africa. While in Japan, Smythe-Haith was a visiting economics professor at Shiga University from 1951 to 1953. Returning home, she spent the next fifteen years as a high school teacher and principal in New York City, and then, in 1969, became vice president and director of research for the Phelps-Stockes Fund in New York City. Following in her husband's footsteps, Smythe-Haith served in a variety of government advisory positions complementing her experiences in education and foreign countries. She was on the advisory councils for the National Assessment of Education Progress and the Council on African Affairs during the 1960s, as well as being a former member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Educational Exchange and the U.S. Advisory Commission on Educational and Cultural Affairs. Furthermore, Smythe-Haith served on the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in the late 1960s. All this governmental service culminated in Smythe-Haith's being appointed a U.S. ambassador in 1977. She represented her country in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, and was later named deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, a position she held until 2000. Returning from her ambassadorial work in 1980, Smythe-Haith was named Melville J. Hetskovits Professor at Northwestern University, where she was also director of the African studies department. In her later years, Smythe-Haith was honored by various organizations for her many accomplishments. Among these recognitions were the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Award in 1984, the U.S. Information Agency Outstanding Service Award in 1986, and an annual award from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 1990. She published several books over the years, as well, including Black American Reference Book (1976) and The New Nigerian Elite (1960), the latter written with her first husband.

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Washington Post, February 25, 2006, p. B6.