James Daniel O'Flaherty

James Daniel O'Flaherty served as a public policy figure at think tanks and on the U.S. Senate staff and was an expert on South Africa and U.S. foreign trade. 

Dan was born in Chicago on November 4,1942 to James C. O’Flaherty, a scholar of German philosophy and history at Wake Forest University, and Lucy Maupin Ribble, an accomplished painter. He grew up in Winston Salem, N.C.  

Dan won a scholarship to Williams College, Massachusetts, majoring in government and history, later serving on its board.  Dan was a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford University.  Later he earned a doctorate at Harvard and then taught for a year at The University of the South at Sewanee. 

He was recruited by Senator Frank Church (D)(Idaho) as a senior research analyst. Dan contributed to the Church Report on democratic reforms to U.S. intelligence agencies. His work on Capitol Hill led to an appointment at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in NYC, as a senior fellow specializing in national economics with a concentration on Wall Street, and then to a position at The Group of 30, focusing on international monetary and economic policy.  

Dan served as Vice President of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) in D.C., while also directing the U.S.-South Africa Business Council.  His work included U.S.-China trade relations, Vietnam normalization, and commercial relations with the former Soviet Union. Dan was a key figure in the Rhodes Scholar Alumni Association, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of The Cosmos Club. 

Dan passed away on June 14, 2025, and is survived by his long-time partner, Dr. Elizabeth A. McDaniel. He will be laid to rest next to his parents in Winston Salem, N.C.   A celebration of life will be held in Washington. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to World Central Kitchen and/or Foundry United Methodist Church in D.C. in his name.