Gail Dennise Thomas Mathieu (born 1951) is the former political advisor to the Commander, United States Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. She is the former United States Ambassador to Namibia and former United States Ambassador to Niger. Life and education Mathieu is a native of New Jersey, but earned a B.A. degree from Antioch College. She returned to New Jersey and earned her J.D. degree from Rutgers University-Newark. Career She was initially an assistant prosecutor for the city of Newark, New Jersey, but then began a career in the Foreign Service. Other diplomatic posts 2013-2015 – Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island Affairs 1999–2002 – Deputy Chief of Mission in Accra, Ghana 1997–1999 – Deputy Director of the Office of West African Affairs 1995–1997 – Deputy Director of the Office of Pacific Island Affairs References 1951 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Namibia Ambassadors of the United States to Niger Antioch College alumni Rutgers University alumni African-American diplomats United States Foreign Service personnel American women ambassadors 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American diplomats 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women