Jeanette Wallace Hyde
Delta State University mourns the loss of DSU Alumna, Ambassador Jeanette Wallace Hyde, who passed away on February 10, 2025, at the age of 86. In honor of her memory, the University flag will fly at half-staff through sunset on Wednesday, February 19.
Ambassador Jeanette Wallace Hyde was a trailblazing diplomat, political activist, businesswoman, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist.
She graduated from Delta State University in 1962 earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Education, with concentrations in English and Social Sciences. She pursued further studies at the University of Maryland in Iraklion, Crete, and she completed graduate work in counseling at both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.
In 1994, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as U.S. Ambassador to seven Caribbean nations. Ambassador Hyde was introduced in her Senate confirmation hearings by U.S. Senator Jesse Helms as an indication of her bipartisan support notwithstanding her firmly held core beliefs. She was sworn in as Ambassador by her close friend, Vice President Al Gore, and served our country in that role from 1994-1998.
She provided the inspirational address at Delta State’s Spring 1995 Commencement ceremony, where she offered words of wisdom and encouragement to the graduates as they embarked on the next chapter of their lives. She was honored as Delta State’s Distinguished Alumnus in 1999, and inducted into Delta State’s Alumni Hall of Fame in 2007.
Throughout their lives, Ambassador Hyde and her husband worked together to promote business growth, education, and public service, leaving a lasting impact on their community and beyond. A devoted philanthropist, she held a special love for education. Beyond the many organizations, campaigns, fundraisers or galas, the magic of the Ambassador’s wonderful life was that she was a great friend to many and was a beautiful soul inside and out. She understood that you must be a good friend in order to have good friends.
Arrangements are being handled by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home in Raleigh, NC. The family will receive visitors on Monday, February 17, between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at The Woman’s Club of Raleigh, North Carolina. A memorial service to honor Ambassador Hyde’s extraordinary life will be held at White Memorial Presbyterian Church, in Raleigh, on Tuesday, February 18, at 2:00 p.m. Christopher Edmonston, Pastor, will officiate. Interment will be private at the Flat Rock Baptist Church in Hamptonville, NC.
Please click here for additional information.
