Elliott Skinner

Who was Elliott Skinner?

Elliott Percival Skinner was an American anthropologist and United States Ambassador to Republic of Upper Volta.

Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Skinner came to the United States in 1943. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1944 and fought in World War II, which later allowed him to obtain citizenship. Skinner earned a bachelor's degree from New York University in 1951. He then attended Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree in 1952 and a doctorate in 1955. Skinner learned More by the Mossi while living in Upper Volta for two years.

Skinner became a professor at Columbia in 1954. Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him ambassador to Upper Volta from 1966 to 1969. In 1972, Skinner became the first African-American department chair at Columbia as well as the first African American to receive tenure at the University in 1963. He wrote several books on Africa, focusing on U.S. policy there.

On April 21, 2007, Skinner died of heart failure at his home in Washington, D.C.. He was 82 years old.