![\"Pamela](\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2016\/08\/Bridgewater_news-1024x413.jpg\")
Bridgewater, who retired from active duty in the U.S. Diplomatic Service in 2013, said she dreamed of joining the Peace Corps after she graduated from Virginia State College to answer President Kennedy\u2019s call for youth ambassadors. But the political science major was disappointed to find that the Peace Corps needed volunteers with agriculture and other development skills for which she didn\u2019t qualify.<\/p>\n
Instead she took a different path, attending graduate school that led to a position as a university professor, until a friend cajoled her into trying a two-year tour of duty in the Foreign Service. That stint stretched to 34 years and led to a rewarding career where she became the first African-American female consul general in South Africa during the historic transition from Apartheid to a non-racial government and cemented a friendship with anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela who served as president of South Africa.<\/p>\n
During her Foreign Service career, she helped open communication channels between the African National Congress and the U.S. and, as special coordinator for peace in Liberia at the height of a civil war, led a U.S. delegation to peace talks that set that country on a road to recovery. Bridgewater served as U.S. ambassador in three countries under three different presidents: President Bill Clinton appointed her U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Benin; President George W. Bush named her U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana, and President Obama appointed her as Ambassador to Jamaica.<\/p>\n
Despite her distinguished career, Bridgewater said that her most cherished award was being named an honorary Peace Corps volunteer by the Peace Corps in Jamaica where she swore in Peace Corps volunteers.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you see, it\u2019s never too late for your dreams to become a reality,\u201d she told graduates \u00a0during the 2015 UMW commencement address.. \u201cOne setback can open opportunities more exciting than you thought and erase any disappointment you might encounter along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The daylong event also includes a variety of seminars from speakers including Michelle Caldwell Thompson, Donna Tyson, Mauricio Velasquez, Hope Taylor and Linda Worrell.<\/p>\n