Constance Morella is an American politician, professor, and diplomat born on February 12, 1931, in Somerville, Massachusetts.

She attended Somerville High School before going on to study at Boston University, Norwich University, and American University. Her political career took shape when she represented Maryland's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, a position she held from 1987 to 2003. Following her time in Congress, she served as the Permanent Representative from the United States to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development from 2003 to 2007. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed her to the American Battle Monuments Commission. Over the course of her career she received several honors, including the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Dr. Nathan Davis Award for United States Representatives, and induction into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.

At American University, she serves on the faculty as an Ambassador in Residence for the Women & Politics Institute, a role that connects her backgrounds in politics, diplomacy, and education. Her work across those three fields — representing constituents in Congress, conducting diplomacy at the OECD, and teaching at the university level — runs as a consistent thread through her public life, and her continuing affiliation with American University's Women & Politics Institute reflects her long engagement with questions of women's participation in public service.