Ulric St. Clair Haynes Jr., 1952
Doctor of Laws
The long and distinguished career of Ulric St. Clair Haynes Jr. has spanned the realms of business, government and academia. Haynes is perhaps best known for his service as the United States Ambassador to Algeria from 1977 to 1981, during which time he helped to negotiate the release of the hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Iran. He is currently a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Central Florida and a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to West Indian immigrant parents, Haynes studied political science at Amherst College. (In a recent essay for Amherst maga zine, he recalled being one of only two black students in his class.) Haynes went on to earn a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1956.
Haynes served as administrative officer in the United Nations European Office in Geneva in the late 1950s, and then held roles in the U.N., the Ford Foundation and the U.S. Department of State, focusing on various regions of Africa. From 1965 to 1966, he served on the National Security Council staff at the White House, specializing in African affairs. In the late 1960s, Haynes became president of Management Formation, Inc., and then a partner in Spencer Stuart and Associates. In 1972, he moved on to Cum mins Engine Co., Inc., where he became vice president for management development and then for Mideast and Africa, at which point President Jimmy Carter nominated him to be Ambassador to Algeria.
Haynes has served on the boards of directors of businesses such as the American Broadcasting Company, Rohm and Haas, HSBC Bank USA, Pall Corporation and INNCOM. He has published papers on foreign relations and lectured at (among other institutions) Stanford University and Harvard Business School, where he graduated from the Advanced Management Program. Haynes retired in 2003 as dean of the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University, having also been executive dean of university international relations. In addition, he has served as acting president of SUNY College at Old Westbury and president of AFS Intercultural Programs.