Ambassador William M. Bellamy is the Warburg Chair in International Relations at Simmons College.  He was named the director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in October 2008. At the time of his appointment, he was a resident senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. Previously he served as senior vice president of National Defense University. A career diplomat, Ambassador Bellamy was U.S. ambassador to Kenya from 2003 to 2006. He served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs (2001-2003) and as deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs (2000-2001). His earlier diplomatic assignments include deputy chief of mission in Canberra, political minister-counselor in Paris, and political counselor in Pretoria and Cape Town. Ambassador Bellamy holds a bachelor’s in history from Occidental College and a master’s in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University).