Ambassador Sue McCourt Cobb collection

Sue M. Cobb (1937- ) is a lawyer and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Jamaica from 2001 to 2005, being the first woman to occupy that position. Her engagement with politics started in 1964 when she became engaged in the organization of the Republican National Convention in San Francisco. Though at the time she was responsible of arranging hotel rooms in the Bay Area for all young Republicans coming from around the country, she was later a decisive support for Jeb Bush’s 1998 campaign for governor of Florida. In addition, she was appointed by President George W. Bush and played a key role in diplomatic relations between the United States and Jamaica during her tenure. She was also Secretary of State of Florida from 2005 to 2007(1). In addition to her years dedicated to public service, she has an experienced background in business. For instance, she was CEO of the Florida Lottery, a partner at Greenberg Traurig, and a multi-year member and three times chair of the Miami Federal Reserve(2).

She obtained her bachelor’s from Stanford University in 1959 and later graduated from Miami Law School. She and her husband, the American businessmen Charles Elvan Cobb, Jr., met in Stanford and got married at the university’s chapel in 1959. They had two children together, Christian McCourt Cobb (1963- ) and Tobin Templeton Cobb (1964- ) and seven grandchildren(3).

The excellence of Cobb’s career in public services was recognized by numerous awards, which included national honors from Jamaica and Iceland. Between 2002 and 2008, she worked in the U.S. Department of State's Leadership and Management School, where she co-chaired mandatory seminars tailored for newly appointed U.S. ambassadors. Today, the US Department of State annually presents The Sue M. Cobb Award to non-career U.S. ambassadors judged as the most exceptional worldwide.

She has authored two books: The Edge of Everest: A Woman Challenges the Mountain, published in 1989, and more recently, The Lady of Silk and Steel: From Everest to Embassies, published in Jamaica in 2020. Both books reflect on yet another of her achievements: that of being one of the few American women to get close to the summit of Mount Everest(4). Born in California, Mrs. Cobb and her husband currently live in Coral Gables.

–Vanessa Rodrigues Barcelos da Silva
Graduate Student Assistant for Manuscripts and Archives Management, Summer 2024

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_M._Cobb
(2) Council of American Ambassadors (https://americanambassadors.org/members/sue-mccourt-cobb)
(3) Source: The Lady of Silk and Steel
(4) Interview with Sue M. Cobb on her adventure towards Mount Everest (https://adst.org/2015/10/the-edge-of-everest/)