Charles Gyude Bryant

Charles Gyude Bryant has been Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (Head of State) since October 14, 2003, and has been active in Liberian civic and political affairs since the early 1970s. When the military Junta lifted the ban on political activity in 1984, Gyude Bryant joined a number of other prominent Liberian political and business leaders to found the Liberia Action Party (LAP). In 1992 he was elected chairman of LAP. He has used this platform to build the party into an institution that has played a leadership role in bringing the previously fractious Liberian opposition together.

Gyude Bryant launched his professional career as an entrepreneur. Following his graduation from Cuttington University College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, Gyude Bryant was hired in 1972 by the Mesurado Group of Companies, then Liberia's largest private conglomerate, to serve as fleet manager of the Mesurado Fishing Company. In 1973 he went to the National Port Authority to head its planning and development department. In 1977 he launched a company of his own, the Liberia Machinery & Supply Company (LIMASCO), of which he is president and CEO.

He has been an active communicant of the Episcopal Church of Liberia. In 1996 he was elected chairman of its Diocesan Board of Trustees, a position he still retains.

Gyude Bryant is married to Rosie Lee Bryant and has three children.

Source: University Programs and Events Planning Resources, September 2004