Alumni Awards - Alumni Achievement Award — Bernadette Allen ’78
The alumni achievement award goes to an alumnna who has displayed exceptional achievements in a professional career. We are honored to recognize Bernadette Allen, class of 1978, the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Niger.
A career foreign service officer at the U.S. Department of State, Bernadette was commissioned into the U.S. diplomatic service in January 1980. Nominated by President Bush Oct. 26, 2005, to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Niger, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in as ambassador in March 2006. She has served in various capacities on assignments in Asia, Africa and the Western Hemisphere including Consul General in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Consular Section Chief in Guangzhou, China; Consul in Manila, Philippines and General Services Officer/Vice Consul in Bujumbura, Burundi. Her domestic assignments at the U.S. Department of State include Director of the Visa Office Coordination Division, Legislative Management Officer, Deputy Director of Consular Training at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center and desk officer in the Africa Regional Affairs Office. She studied Mandarin Chinese at the Foreign Service Institute and in Taipei, Taiwan.
Bernadette has earned two Superior Honor Awards for leadership and performance and a Meritorious Honor Award for outstanding managerial and professional skills. She earned a B.A. in French Civilization and Linguistics at Central College as well as a Certificate in French Civilization from the Sorbonne University in Paris, France in 1977. She completed an M.A. in Human Resources Management at George Washington University in 1989 and speaks English, French and Mandarin Chinese.
She was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Seat Pleasant, Prince George’s County, Maryland. She has served as a volunteer for Big Sisters of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area and Usher Board Chairman at the Carmody Hills Baptist Church in Seat Pleasant, Md. She holds a lifetime membership in the U.S. Tennis Association.
At Central College she was President of the on-campus African-American Organization and a member Alpha Delta Epsilon sorority. A financial contributor to Central, Bernadette also spent time in five classrooms during Homecoming week, a real treat for our Central College students.
