A native of Fredericksburg, Virginia, she is a graduate of Walker-Grant High School and Virginia State University. She received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati and completed course and advanced to candidacy for the PhD degree from the American University School of International Service. In June 2005, the United States Senate confirmed her as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Ghana, the first African-American woman to hold that post, after serving a year as Diplomat-in-Residence at Howard University. Ambassador Bridgewater also served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and was the first African-American woman to be appointed Consul General in Durban, South Africa. Her other overseas posts include Belgium, Jamaica and The Bahamas. Her Department of State assignments were in the Bureaus of European Affairs, Oceans and Environmental Affairs, and Intelligence and Research. She joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1980 after a teaching career at Morgan State University and Bowie State University in Maryland and Voorhees College in South Carolina. Students she taught and mentored at Morgan State have distinguished themselves, serving as Foreign Minister, State’s Attorney General, Judges, academic and legal experts and authors.

She received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Virginia State University, the University of Cincinnati and an honorary Doctor of Public Service from the Morgan State University. Other honors include the Girl Scouts of Virginia Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Dominion Power Strong Leaders Award. Ambassador Bridgewater is the recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Service Award, the Charles Cobb Award for Trade Promotion and three Department of State Superior Honor Awards. Her foreign language is French.