Thomas Patrick Melady was a career diplomat of the United States of America and an academician with a successful University career. During the last four decades of the XX centyr, Amb. Melady has served as the United States Ambassador to three different posts and with three different presidents, in Burundi, Uganda, and the Holy See – Vatican, as well as a senior adviser to the US Delegation in the United Nations Organization General Assembly.
In the history of World diplomacy he will be remembered for a long time, as the leading negotiator for the recognition of the State of Israel by the Holy See, while being the sole intermediary envoy between Pope John Paul II and U.S. President George H.W. Bush. These negotiations had a successful ending and the State of Israel was recognized by the Vatican at the end of Dr. Melady’s ambassadorial term.
Ambassador Melady was a well known expert of political and historical issues of Central and South Eastern Europe as well as Central African affairs, while being the author of seventeen books dedicated to the particular regional matters.
Ambassador Melady was the recipient of twenty nine Honorary degrees Honoris Causa, awarded to him by many universities in the United States and from all over the world. Has been chancellor and president in three U.S. Universities and today is President Emeritus of the Sacred Heart University, in the state of Connecticut, United States.
Ambassador Melady has been special assistant to President Reagan on higher education policy and Assistant Secretary of Education for Higher education, during the first mandate of the Reagan Administration.
As an avid participant in Public relations, his outstanding leadership skills are honored for public service by six countries in the world with national orders of the first class and a large number of knights’ orders by many communities, associations and organizations across the world. Today Ambassador Melady was the senior adviser of the Holy See delegation in the United Nations organization.
He has been a professor in many universities and he was the Senior Diplomat in residence at the Institute of World Politics, Washington, D.C.