The Foreign Service Journal, March 2013

58 MARCH 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 2012 AFSA ANNUAL REPORT AFSA NEWS AFSA Awards L I FET IME CONTR I BUT I ONS TO AMER I CAN D I PLOMACY This year’s annual awards ceremony took place on June 26 in the Benjamin Franklin Diplomatic Reception Room at the Department of State. Ambassador William Lacy Swing received AFSA’s Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award for his half-century of diplomatic service. Amb. Swing expressed his gratitude for a career that allowed him the opportunity to be present as history unfolded. CONSTRUCT I VE D I SSENT AWARD The 2012 winner of the William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent by a mid-level officer was Joshua Polacheck, who sent a cable challenging the thinking behind heightened security levels at embassies and the impact on getting the job done. No constructive dissent awards were given in the other three categories.  PERFORMANCE AWARDS Leila Gupta received the Avis Bohlen Award for a Foreign Service Family Member; Sara Hurst Butler received the M. Juanita Guess Award for a Community Liaison Officer; and the Delavan Award for a Foreign Service Office Management Specialist went to James Velez. Jeff Jacob was named AFSA Post Representative of the Year. S I NCLA I RE LANGUAGE AWARDS AFSA also presents other awards throughout the year. The Sinclaire Language Awards honor Foreign Service officers for their outstanding accomplishment in the study of a difficult language and its associated culture. The program was established by AFSA through a bequest from Matilda W. Sinclaire, a former Foreign Service officer. The winners were: Nancy Abella (Dari), Eric Collings (Uzbek), Sarah Grow (Persian/Farsi), James Hallock (Mandarin), Rebecca Hunter (Albanian), Theresa Mangione (Vietnamese), E. Jerome Ryan, Jr. (Japanese) and David Vincent Salvo (Serbian/Croatian). GEORGE KENNAN WR I T I NG AWARD AFSA also sponsors the George Kennan Writing Award, given each year in honor of the best paper by a State Department employee enrolled at the National War College. This year’s winner was Michael Dixon. Left to right: Ambassadors Bruce Laingen, William L. Swing and Thomas Boyatt toast the winners. The 2012 William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent winner Joshua Polacheck. The winners and presenters at AFSA’s annual awards ceremony. PHOTOSBYDONNAAYERST

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