Ambassador Thomas P. and Dr. Margaret B. Melady have been involved in diplomatic and international affairs since the 1950s, particularly on the continent of Africa. Ambassador Melady has held multiple diplomatic posts for the United States, and the couple have written multiple books on politics in Africa.

Thomas Patrick Melady was born 4 March 1927 in Norwich, Conn. He attended Duquesne University (BA, 1950) and the Catholic University of America (MA, Phd, 1955) before becoming a professor and later Executive Vice-President of St. John's University. He was also an adjunct professor at Fordham University 1966-1969, a professor and Chairman of Seton Hall University, the President of Sacred Heart University 1976-1986, and the Interim Dean of the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall in 2013.

In 1959, Mr. Melady co-founded (with John LaFarge) and became the president of the Africa Service Institute, headquartered in New York. This organization was dedicated to assisting African students attend college in the United States, and teaching African leaders how to obtain humanitarian aid, promote their nations internationally and negotiate Cold-War global politics. Mr. Melady was involved with political leaders and movements in many African nations, and in 1969 was appointed Ambassador to Burundi by Richard Nixon. In 1970, he became the Senior Advisor to US delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, and in 1972 was appointed Amabassador to Uganda. He was also the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Holy See, appointed by George H. W. Bush in 1989 and serving until 1993.

Margaret Badum Melady received her BA from the College of New Rochelle, an MA from Seton Hall University, and a PhD from the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. She worked in communications, media, and public relations for United Illuminations, Chesebrough-Ponds, and Stauffer Chemical Company, and was a professor at Saint Joseph's University, Sacred Heart University, and the State University of New York-Oswego. From 1997-2003 Dr. Melady was the President of the American University in Rome. She is now the President of Melady Associates, a firm specializing in public affairs and educational counseling.

Together, Ambassador and Dr. Melady have written more than a dozen books, including Ten African Heroes: The Sweep of Independence in Black Africa, Uganda: The Asian Exiles, Leopold Sedar Senghor;: Rhythm and reconciliation, and Idi Amin Dada: Hitler in Africa. Ambassador Melady has been honored with numerous honorary doctorates, ben individually honored by multiple countries, and is Professor and Senior Diplomat in Residence at The Institute of World Politics. Dr. Melady has been honored with multiple honorary doctorates as well as the Order of St. Gregory the Great, the Cross of Merit with Star from the Order of Malta and the Robertus Bellarmino Medal from the Pontifical Gregorian University. The couple married in 1961 and have two daughters, Christina Melady and Monica Melady Micklos.

Ambassador Thomas P. Melady died 6 January 2014 at age 86.