Linda Jewell

Linda Jewell, a retired U.S.Foreign Service officer and former Ambassador to Ecuador, died of cancer on November 18. She was 66 years old and lived in Washington, D.C. Jewell began her Foreign Service career with the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) in 1976. She served in cultural and information roles in embassies in Jakarta, Mexico City, New Delhi, and Warsaw. In Washington she was desk officer for Mexico and Central America, and Deputy Director, then Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs. After USIA was subsumed by the State Department in 1999, Jewell was assigned as Deputy Chief of Mission in San Jose, Costa Rica. On return to Washington, she served as chief of Policy Planning in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and, later, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Canada and Mexico. She served as Ambassador to Ecuador from 2005 to 2008. In the course of her foreign service career, Jewell was commended for her efforts to combat human trafficking. She received the Department of State Superior Honor Award. She was awarded the Honorato Vasquez Order by the Ecuadorian government. On retiring from the State Department, Jewell joined ISEP, the international student exchange program, as Vice President. She retired from that position in 2013. In retirement she was actively involved in promoting U.S. public diplomacy through various organizations such as the Public Diplomacy Council. She also served as board chair of Pyxera Global, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to mobilize citizen diplomats to address global challenges. She was a Senior Fellow of the Jackson Center for Global Affairs at Yale and a member of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs. She also volunteered her time to assist ICE detainees. Throughout her career, Jewell was known for her incisive policy sense, high degree of integrity, and fair but forceful management style. Her love of travel took her around the world several times. She toured extensively in Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Jewell was born in Little Rock, Ark., where she was active in Girl Scouting. She attended Hall High School and was a member of the third four-year class of women at Yale College, graduating in 1975. She received a masters degree in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in 1988. She is survived by her husband of 43 years, John Walsh, her children, Susanna Jewell Walsh of Oakland, California and Patrick Jewell Walsh of the District of Columbia, a large extended family, and a world-wide circle of friends. She was predeceased by her parents, Robert and Analee Jewell, and her brother Byron Frank Jewell. Funeral services will be private. A memorial service will be held Friday, December 27 at 2 p.m., at First United Methodist Church, 723 Center St, Little Rock. Contributions in Linda's honor may be made to: Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition, caircoalition.org.