Marguerita Ragsdale

SOUTHSIDE HIGH, DINWIDDIE COUNTY (1966)
DIPLOMAT

Dr. Ragsdale is a 1966 honors graduate of Southside High School in Dinwiddie County. She holds a B.A. degree in journalism from the American University, an M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and a J.D. degree from Columbia University. A Middle East specialist and fluent in French and Arabic, Ambassador Ragsdale began her Foreign Service career in 1984. The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs selected her to head its Political Section at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa in 1999. In 2003, she was nominated to be Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In 2007 she led the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Disarmament Commission and in 2009, served as Deputy Head of the U.S. delegation to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee meeting in New York. Ambassador Ragsdale retired in 2013 and is now working on a memoir of her 30-year career. In retirement, she supports two professional ballet companies in the Washington D.C. area and collects American antiques. In 2006 the Town of McKenney, in Dinwiddie County, VA, celebrated her accomplishments by naming “Marguerita D. Ragsdale Street.”