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MONROVIA, March 14, 2026—As part of its yearlong 75th-anniversary observances, the University of Liberia hosted a dialogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, on the historic “Greystone Exchange,” where Liberian Ambassador to the United States Al-Hassan Conteh and U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Joe Zadrozny discussed the property arrangement’s role in strengthening Liberia‑U.S. ties and supporting the university’s long-term growth.
The dialogue, held in Tubman Hall Auditorium on UL’s Capitol Hill campus, drew diplomats, university officials, faculty, students, and staff and gave in‑person attendees and viewers of the live broadcast a look at the university’s endowment and how its property holdings have supported its educational mission.
Facilitating the discussion, University of Liberia 16th President Dr. Layli Maparyan said this special event was a great opportunity to be reflective about UL’s history, to lift up the stories that not everyone knows but everyone should know, and a great opportunity to connect with UL’s partners and those who have been intertwined with the university’s history over the years.
“This is actually a tremendously important program where we have the opportunity to bring two
important diplomats together into conversation with each other about an event that was historically significant to the University of Liberia,” said President Maparyan.
“And while I won’t jump out front by making their comments for them, I’ll let you know that it is about the famous Greystone Exchange, something that UL had and has shared or worked with the U.S. Embassy on.”
At the start of the dialogue, President Maparyan asked her predecessor, Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh, a former UL President, to address the opening question, “What was the Greystone property, and what is its history and significance?”
In response, Dr. Conteh said Greystone is a diplomatic facility owned by the University of Liberia. He traced the property’s ownership to Liberia’s first President, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, who had willed it to his wife, Jane, and then after Jane, the stewards of the United Methodist Church, and then Liberia College, which later became the University of Liberia in 1951.
Greystone, originally under a long-term lease by Firestone Liberia, Dr. Conteh explained that in 1946, Firestone turned over all its rights to the U.S. Embassy, and that contract ended in 2006 when he was UL President.
Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh said the name “Greystone” was given to the area by locals because of the appearance of the Precambrian rock that characterizes the landscape from Capitol Hill to Mamba Point.
He explained that the history of Greystone started here in Monrovia from conversations with Amb. Joe Zadrozny’s predecessor, Ambassador Donald Booth, who was the U.S. Ambassador to Liberia at the time Conteh served as UL President in 2006.
According to him, Amb. Booth had informed the President of Liberia at the time, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, that they had decided to build a new Embassy complex at the Greystone.
Given that the amount the university received for the Greystone property at the time did not represent the fair market value of that place, Amb. Conteh said he suggested that the contract be renegotiated with the U.S. Embassy.
To set the stage, he stated that Liberia’s Ministry of Public Works, based on an invitation, surveyed the Greystone property and confirmed that it occupies an area of 20 acres.
Following the reassessment of the property, Amb. Conteh said he proposed to Amb. Booth that an endowment be set up for the university for the agreed amount in the renegotiated price for the property.
He emphasized that an endowment is a fund usually invested, and the yearly income is used to fund the welfare of the university—the whole spectrum, faculty development, student success, libraries, and whatever the president of the university, as representing the entire university, is interested in.
Amb. Conteh said the idea was to do the assessment based on a net present value (NPV) assessment, that is, the present value of the net stream of the series of income that is received at the end of whatever assessment is done.
“And that value was about $2.4 million in 2007. And as I said, the rest is history. He invited someone from the United States State Department, and they did the NPV analysis,” said Dr. Conteh. Subsequently, he said the agreement was signed.
U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Joe Zadrozny said that while UL celebrates its 75th Anniversary, the U.S. Embassy has just had its 14th year of being in the very nice, comfortable building constructed on the Greystone property following the negotiations in 2006 and the identification of that land, which led to building the new, purpose-built, modern U.S. embassy that opened in January of 2012.
“So again, for me, it’s important to see the steps, the evolution, the renting for many years of
embassies around town, the building of a purpose-built building.”
“That’s where the ambassador’s residence and building, and then building another one that lasted for 50 years, evolved. We grew out of that, and then we moved into our current home that we’ve been happily in since 2012. So for me, I see that as very important.” The dialogue had an interactive session during which attendees asked panelists questions.
