Walter S. Gifford '05, long active in University as well as national affairs, was appointed yesterday to succeed the ailing Lewis W. Douglas as ambassador to the Court of St. James.

The 65-year old retired president and chairman of the board of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company will bring to the London post a broad background in economic and financial affairs. The new appointment is also expected to give a strong boost to the Administration's efforts to keep foreign policy bi-partisan, since Gifford is a Republican.

A former head of the Alumni Association, Gifford's most recent University post has been membership in the Board of Overseers, his second term having run out last Commencement. In this capacity, he served last year as Chairman of the Board's Committee to visit the Business School.

Three Year Man

As a student, Gifford completed his requirements for a degree in three years. On graduation, he became associated with A.T. andT. when a job application intended for another company was misaddressed and received and approved by the telephone company.

During World War I Gifford was secretary of the Inter-Allied Munitions Council in Paris. He directed President Roosevelt's organization on unemployment relief in 1931-32.

He has also been a director of the First National Bank of New York, a Director of the United States Steel Corporation, Chairman of the American Red Cross (1943), and a trustee of Johns Hopkins, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Geographic Society.

Two sons, Walter S. Jr. and Richard Pitman graduated in '39 and '43, the former lost his life in World War II.