Deceased August 3, 2021
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In Memory
Bruce F. Duncombe, a teacher and diplomat, died Aug. 3 of heart-related issues, in Gaithersburg, Md., where he had moved five years ago after living in Bethesda, Md., for many years. He had just turned 84.
A graduate of Brockton (Mass.) High School, Bruce was a member of Deke and majored in economics at Amherst.
He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota in 1964.
He had two careers, first as a professor of economics at Georgetown University and then as an economist, diplomat and historian in the State Department. During his diplomatic career, he first served in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and over the next 15 years in Egypt, India, Indonesia and Nigeria.
Bruce met Sharon Ann Jorgensen while in graduate school, and they were married in 1961. They moved to Washington in 1963 when Bruce joined the Georgetown University economics faculty, where, along with his teaching duties, he co-authored two books as well as chapters in other economics-related volumes.
While teaching economics to Foreign Service officers at Georgetown, Bruce became interested in diplomatic work and joined the Foreign Service Institute in 1974 in preparation for his overseas assignments. He returned to Washington in 1993 as director of the Office of Investment Affairs and served as head of the U.S. delegation at many international conferences. In his final assignment, in the Office of the Historian, he edited two volumes in the Foreign Relations of the United States series.
In retirement he traveled extensively, organized a trove of 25,000 family photographs, wrote multiple family histories for his children and grandchildren, read avidly and began work on a novel.
Bruce is survived by his wife, Sharon; his daughters, Lesley Gramaglia, Kristin Louise Duncombe and Stephanie Duncombe; and five grandchildren.
Claude E. Erbsen ’59