The 21st Show

Retired Ambassador Eric P. Whitaker, from Illinois to Niger

Produced by Brian Mackey
 
a white man in a tan suit crouches down and presents two gourds to a pair of Black children in traditional Nigerien dress — a boy wearing a long, cream-colored shirt and a girl in an orange dress with blue flowers embroidered on it;

Eric P. Whitaker, then the U.S. ambassador to Niger, speaks with children at a Black History Month event in 2019. U.S. Embassy Niamey on Facebook

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A conversation with retired U.S. Diplomat Eric P. Whitaker. Born in DeKalb and raised there and in North Aurora, Whitaker earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was also in the Marching Illini. Before joining the Foreign Service, he spent time in the Peace Corps in the Phillipines. His diplomatic postings include South Korea, Sudan, Iraq, Burkina Faso, and Niger, where he was ambassador from 2018 until his retirement in 2021.

Whitaker is in Champaign-Urbana this week (October 8–10, 2025) for a series of presentations and other events at Illinois, organized by the Center for African Studies. (Students interested in the Peace Corps or the Foreign Service can speak with him at Career Center events Friday morning.)

Guest

Eric P. Whitaker
U.S. Ambassador to Niger (2018–2021)