Connie Morella is currently appointed as the ambassador-in-residence at American University’s Women & Politics Institute. She previously served as U.S. ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris from 2003 to 2007.

Connie Morella served in the Maryland House of Delegates and the United States House of Representatives for a combined total of almost twenty-five years, where she represented Maryland’s 8th district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 2003. While in Congress, Morella successfully initiated legislation addressing domestic violence and child support, as well as programs for the elderly, environmental protection, health care reform, and human rights issues.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Boston University and her master’s degree from American University. She also holds honorary doctorates from American University, Norwich University, Dickinson College, Mt. Vernon College, University of Maryland University College, University of Maryland, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Elizabethtown College, Washington College, and National Labor College.

Her numerous awards and recognitions include induction into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame, the Ron Brown Standards Leadership Award, and public service awards from the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights “for selfless and devoted service in the cause of equality.”