Remembering Ambassador C. Steven McGann

It is with much sadness that we share the news of Ambassador C. Steve McGann's sudden passing on May 25, 2023. Ambassador McGann served initially on the UNA-NCA Advisory Council and later on the Board of Directors, serving as Vice Chair of its Resource Development Committee.  He also served as the Co-Chair of the Women's Refugee Commission. During his leadership, Ambassador McGann initiated the Insider Briefing Series engaging in conversations with high level UN officials on pressing global issues, and serving as speaker and mentor to our Graduate Fellows Program.   

A New Yorker by birth, Clarence Steven McGann was born on June 28, 1951 to Clarence D. McGann and Evangeline Hutson. Educated at Claremont McKenna College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, he went on to graduate studies at Cornell University where he studied comparative government. This was followed by a Master’s of Science degree from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University. He was also a graduate of the Naval War College.

Ambassador McGann joined the Foreign Service in 1979 and became a career member, Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Minister-Counselor (FE-MC). He was nominated by President George W. Bush on October 6th, 2008 and subsequently confirmed by the US Senate as Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, The Kingdom of Tonga, and Tuvalu (2008-11). Other career highlights included:  Assigned as Chargé d'Affaires (ad interim) of the United States Embassy in Dili, Timor-Leste; Director of the Office for Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Island Affairs in the Bureau for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Director for Asia and the Near East in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration; Member of the United States Mission to the United Nations. Overseas postings included Taiwan, Zaire, South Africa, Australia, and Kenya.

After retiring from government service, Ambassador McGann founded The Stevenson Group, a Washington, DC consulting firm that provides global solutions for economic growth and security. Ambassador McGann previously was also Deputy Commandant and International Affairs Adviser of the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at National Defense University (NDU). He also served as the first Vice Chancellor of the College of International Security Affairs at NDU.

Ambassador McGann was President of the Association of Black American Ambassadors (ABAA), Advisory Council member of the Black Professionals in International Affairs (BPIA), and member of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs. 

On behalf of UNA-NCA, we extend our deepest condolences to his widow, Bertra Bradford McGann and the rest of the McGann Family. 

See below for funeral/memorial arrangements:

Sunday June 4: From 5:00pm–8:00pm, there will be a public visitation at Murphy Funeral Homes in Arlington, Virginia. Address is: 4510 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22203

Monday June 5: At 11:00am, there will be a eulogy and funeral mass at St. Ann Catholic Church in Arlington, Virginia. Address is: 5300 10th St, Arlington, VA 22205. This mass will be live-streamed. There will then be a cortege to Columbia Gardens Cemetery. Address is: 3411 Arlington Blvd, Arlington, VA 22201. A repast at Columbia Gardens will follow the burial, which will end at approximately 4:00pm.