John F. Hicks, Sr.

Ambassador John F. Hicks, Sr., age 71, of Atlanta, GA passed away August 28, 2021. Ambassador Hicks, born in Goldsboro, North Carolina on September 25, 1949, graduated from Dillard High School in 1967, and graduated with honors from Morehouse College in May of 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, followed by a master’s degree in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University in 1973.  John married his childhood neighbor and wife of fifty years Jacqueline Murphy Hicks (Jackie) on June 5, 1971. Together they have two children, Jocelyn and Frederick, and four grandchildren.

John joined USAID as a Foreign Service Officer in 1973, serving in Ethiopia, the Sinai Peninsula, Zambia (Program Officer), Zimbabwe (Deputy Mission Director), Malawi (Mission Director), and Liberia (Mission Director.  He returned to Washington in 1993 as the Assistant Administrator for Africa. His final government posting was as Ambassador to Eritrea. In 1997 John returned to the US and took a position at Georgia State University as the Assistant Provost for International Affairs, from which he retired in 2011, albeit retaining his strong interest in development and foreign affairs through work with the International University of Grand-Bassam Foundation.

A memorial service was held on October 2, 2021 at Morehouse College.  Contributions to Morehouse can be made in John’s honor: https://giving.morehouse.edu/s/.