Joseph Rudolph Grimes

Grimes was born on October 31, 1923, to Louis Arthur Grimes and Victoria Grimes.{{cite news|url=http://www.liberiaitech.com/theperspective/2007/1019200703.html|title=The Life And Legacy Of Secretary Of State J. Rudolph Grimes|last=James|first=Abraham L.|date=October 19, 2007|work=The Perspective|accessdate=2008-09-02}} He was educated at the College of West Africa (now Methodist University of Liberia) before graduating from Liberia College (now University of Liberia) with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Grimes then attended Harvard Law School in the United States where he earned a law degree, followed by a master's degree from Columbia University in New York City in international affairs.

Following his education in America, he returned to Liberia where he founded the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law at the now University of Liberia. Named after his father, the younger Grimes served as the first dean starting in 1951.

In 1958, he was appointed as the Acting Secretary of State of Liberia. In 1960, he was appointed Secretary of State by President William Tubman. Serving until 1971, he is the longest serving foreign minister in Liberian history. He was preceded by Momolu Dukuly and was succeeded by Rocheforte Lafayette Weeks.

He was elected in 1975 to membership in the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (CCIA/WCC) and served as its Vice-Moderator until 1983. He was engaged as its Special advisor on African Affairs and representative to the United Nations in New York in 1993–1994.Archives of the World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland

Joseph Rudolph Grimes died on September 7, 2007,{{cite web|url=http://www.liberianobserver.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/8340/J._Rudolph_Grimes_Is_Dead.html |title=J. Rudolph Grimes is Dead - Liberian Observer |accessdate=2007-10-01 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011095936/http://liberianobserver.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/8340/J._Rudolph_Grimes_Is_Dead.html |archivedate=2007-10-11 }} Liberian Observer at his home in Guttenberg, New Jersey, at the age of 83.

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{{s-ttl|title=Secretary of State of Liberia|years=1960–1972}}

{{s-aft|after=Rocheforte Lafayette Weeks|as=Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia}}

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Category:1923 births

Category:2007 deaths

Category:Harvard Law School alumni

Category:School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni

Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Liberia

Category:University of Liberia alumni

Category:People from Guttenberg, New Jersey

Category:Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Category:Americo-Liberian people

Category:College of West Africa alumni

Category:Liberian expatriates in the United States

Category:Ambassadors of Liberia to China

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