tour he returned to Washington D.C. Director General of the Foreign Service (1983-1985) This was his final post prior to retiring from government service in 1985. The previous year he took on an added task heading up a fellowship program for promising future leaders from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand to study in the United States by the name of the Harkness Fellowships, a program run by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based philanthropic foundation established by Anna M. Harkness. Service chronology Memberships, awards and affiliations Director of the Harkness Fellowship Program of the Commonwealth Fund of New York Director of the Una Chapman Cox Foundation Academic career He was a visiting professor of Middle Eastern Affairs at Hamilton College as Sol M. Linowitz Visiting Professor of Government (1991-1992). There, he taught a small seminar on the history and dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He also was a visiting professor at Mount Holyoke and Birmingham Southern Colleges. Personal He married Betty Wylie (1921-2001) from Chicago, Illinois. They had three children; Lynne, Reed and Michael. He was a member of All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington D.C. He died at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, on October 30, 2002 from complications related to cancer surgery. He is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington D.C. along with his wife, Betty Wylie who died on February 18, 2009. Ancestry His paternal ancestors had resided in Lancaster, Massachusetts having been pioneer settlers to the area. He is a direct descendant of James Atherton, who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in the 1630s. The Atherton family ancestry originated from Lancashire, England. Further reading Eilts, Hermann Fr. "Alfred Leroy (Roy) Atherton, Jr. (1921-2002). (In Memoriam)." Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, vol. 22, no. 1, Jan.-Feb. 2003, p. 45+. Gale General OneFile, References External links 1921 births 2002 deaths People from Pittsburgh Ambassadors of the United States to Egypt Assistant Secretaries of State for the Near East and North Africa United States Department of State officials United States Career Ambassadors Harvard University alumni United States Foreign Service personnel Directors General of the United States Foreign Service United States Army personnel of World War II University of California, Berkeley alumni American expatriates in Germany American expatriates in Syria American expatriates in India