Robin Chandler Duke (born Grace Esther Tippett; October 13, 1923 – February 6, 2016) was an American women's reproductive rights advocate and diplomat. She was the

United States Ambassador to Norway The United States ambassador to Norway (formally the ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of Norway) is the official representative of the President of the United States, president and the government of the United States of America to ...

from 2000 to 2001.

Early life

Born Grace Esther Tippett in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, she was the daughter of Richard Edgar Tippett and Esther (Chandler) Tippett. After her parents separated, she got modeling jobs at

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

and elsewhere to help support her mother and sister.

Career

She began her journalism career in 1944 as a writer for the

women's page The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as Society reporting, society pages and event ...

of the ''

New York Journal-American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 ...

'' using the byline Robin Chandler. Later, after marrying actor

Jeffrey Lynn Jeffrey Lynn (born Ragnar Godfrey Lind; – November 24, 1995) was an American stage-screen actor and film producer who worked primarily through the Golden Age of Hollywood establishing himself as one of the premier talents of his time. T ...

, with whom she had two children, she found work at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

-affiliate

WCAU-TV WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jersey–licensed Tel ...

in Philadelphia as a news reader. In 1952 she became an anchor-reporter with

Dave Garroway David Cunningham Garroway (July 13, 1913 – July 21, 1982) was an American Celebrity, television personality. He was the founding host and anchor of NBC's ''Today (American TV program), Today'' from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style ...

, and covered national political conventions and the marriage of

Jacqueline Bouvier Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

in 1953. She was a broker at Orvis Brothers from 1953 to 1958. She was then vice-president for public relations at Pepsi-Cola until 1962. Chandler Duke was active in organizations relating to women's rights, family planning, and population studies. In addition to serving as national co-chairwoman of the Population Crisis Committee/Draper Fund, which financed International Planned Parenthood, she was a founder of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities; chairwoman of

Population Action International Population Action International (PAI) is an international, civil society organization that uses research and advocacy to improve global access to family planning and reproductive health care. Its mission is to "advance universal access to sexual ...

; president and later chairwoman of the

National Abortion Rights Action League Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America and commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose rest ...

; and president of Naral Pro-Choice America. In 1997 she received the "Maggie" Award, highest honor of the Planned Parenthood Federation, in tribute to their founder,

Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...

. A co-founder of the United States-Japan Foundation and a trustee of the Institute of International Education, Chandler Duke was also a director of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the World Childhood Foundation. She served on other boards, including those of the Guggenheim Museum, Rockwell International, and Emigrant Savings Bank.

Ambassador to Norway

In 2000-2001, Chandler Duke was United States ambassador to Norway, appointed by Bill Clinton to serve for the final year of his administration. She was previously accorded ambassadorial rank when, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter asked her to lead the United States delegation to the 21st

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

conference in Belgrade, Serbia.

Personal life

In 1946, she married actor

(1909–1995), with whom she had two children before their divorce in 1958: * Jeffrey Lynn * Letitia Lynn In 1962, she married Angier Biddle Duke (1915–1995), son of Angier Buchanan Duke. Angier Biddle Duke was chief of protocol for the U.S. Department of State under President

. After the assassination of President Kennedy, Angier Biddle Duke became

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

's chief of staff, and ambassador to Denmark, Spain and Morocco. Together, the couple had one son: * Angier Biddle Duke, Jr. (b. 1962), who married Idoline A. Scheerer, the daughter of William Scheerer II, in 1990. Angier Biddle Duke died in 1995. Robin Chandler Duke died on February 6, 2016, aged 92, in a retirement community in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

References

External links

Profile
, norway.usembassy.gov; accessed February 8, 2016.
Interview (2005) with ''The New Yorker''
nymag.com; accessed February 8, 2016.
Robin Chandler Lynn Duke Papers, circa 1930-2003
library.duke.edu; accessed February 8, 2016.
Robin Chandler Duke (1923–2016)
history.state.gov; accessed February 8, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, Robin Chandler 1923 births 2016 deaths Activists from Baltimore Writers from Baltimore Ambassadors of the United States to Norway Duke family American newspaper journalists American radio journalists Female models from Maryland American women's rights activists PepsiCo people American women ambassadors American women radio journalists American women's page journalists