Rozanne Lejeanne Ridgway (born August 22, 1935) is an American diplomat who served 32 years with the U.S. State Department, holding several posts, including ambassador to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and to

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, and finished her career as

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs is a position within the United States Department of State that leads the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs charged with implementing American foreign policy in Europe and Eu ...

. Ridgway has been an American foreign policy leader since the

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

administration. She has acted as an international negotiator on behalf of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In the early 1970s, Ridgway negotiated longstanding issues over fishing rights in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

. This led to her appointment in 1976 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for

Oceans The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the worl ...

and Fisheries. During her tenure, she negotiated the 200-mile (370 km) fishing rights treaty. Ridgway's subsequent negotiations led to the return of property of U.S. citizens from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. As Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Negotiations and, subsequently, the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs, she was the lead negotiator at all four Reagan-Gorbachev summits. These brought the first substantive reductions in nuclear weapons, signaled the beginning of the end of Communism and the Cold War, and established the fundamental realignment of global power as America prepared to enter the twenty-first century. Between Ridgway's positions at the Department of State, she served as America's Ambassador to

from 1977 to 1980 and as the Ambassador to the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

between 1983 and 1985. She is a member of the following organizations: * Council on Foreign Relations *

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defi ...

* National Geographic Society (Trustee) *

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

(Trustee) She was president of the Atlantic Council from 1989 to 1996, and currently the chairwoman of the

Baltic-American Freedom Foundation The Baltic-American Freedom Foundation is a non-profit foundation focused on programs of education and exchange centering on economic growth and democratic values. Endowed by proceeds from the Baltic-American Enterprise Fund, a U.S. Government-ini ...

. In 1998, Ridgway was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.National Women's Hall of Fame, Rozanne L. Ridgway

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* , - , - , - 1935 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to East Germany 20th-century American diplomats Ambassadors of the United States to Finland American women ambassadors Members of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota Sara Lee Corporation The Stimson Center 20th-century American businesspeople United States Foreign Service personnel 20th-century American women 21st-century American women {{US-business-bio-1930s-stub