Constance Morella (; née Albanese; born February 12, 1931) is an American politician and diplomat. She represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 2003. She served as Permanent Representative from the U.S. to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2003 to 2007. She is on American University's faculty as an Ambassador in Residence for the Women & Politics Institute. She was appointed to the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) by President Barack Obama in 2010. Early life She was born Constance Albanese in Somerville, Massachusetts. After graduating from Somerville High School in 1948, she attended Boston University, where she earned an Associate of Arts in 1950 and a Bachelor of Arts in 1954. Although she was raised in a family of blue-collar Democrats, she became a Republican after meeting Anthony C. Morella, who had worked for liberal Republicans John Lindsay, Nelson Rockefeller, Charles Mathias, and others. After they wed, the couple moved to Bethesda, Maryland. After Connie Morella's sister died of cancer, Tony and Connie Morella adopted her six children to join their own three children. Morella became a secondary school teacher in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland from 1957 to 1961. She graduated from American University with an M.A. in 1967 and was an instructor there from 1968 to 1970, when she became a professor at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. She continued to teach until 1985, when she left teaching to fully focus on her political career. Political career In 1971 Morella was appointed as a founding member to the Montgomery County Commission for Women, an advisory women's advocacy body, and she was elected its president in 1973. She became active in the League of Women Voters. In 1974, she ran for the Maryland House of Delegates from the 16th District (Bethesda), but did not win. She ran again in 1978, winning the seat and receiving more votes than the three previous incumbents. She was reelected for an additional term, before running for United States Congress. Congressional career In 1986, Morella ran for the open Congressional seat in Maryland's 8th congressional district. The district was being vacated by Democrat Michael Barnes, who was running for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate. Morella's opponent in the general election was State Senator Stewart Bainum, a multimillionaire business executive who consistently outpolled her throughout most of the campaign. A major turning point