The Foreign Service Journal, March 2016

64 MARCH 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS The American Foreign Service Association is proud to name Ambassador Ruth A. Davis the 2016 recipient of its Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award in honor of her dis- tinguished Foreign Service career and lifelong devotion to diplomacy. The award will be presented at the AFSA Awards Ceremony on June 23, at 4 p.m., in the Benjamin Franklin Diplomatic Reception Room at the Department of State. Ambassador Davis was born in 1943 and earned her bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) from Spelman College and master’s degree from the University of Califor- nia, Berkeley. During her 40-year career in the Foreign Service, she served as chief of staff in the Africa Bureau, distinguished adviser for international affairs at Howard University, Director General of the For- eign Service and director of human resources, director of the Foreign Service Institute, principal deputy assistant secretary for consular affairs, ambassador to the Republic of Benin and consul general in Barcelona. Earlier in her career, she was a consular officer in Kinshasa, Nairobi, Tokyo and Naples. Davis established FSI’s School of Leadership and Management in 1999, improved crisis management instruction and training for locally employed staff, and led the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative that boosted Foreign Service hiring. She has also helped to increase diversity in the Foreign Service, particu- larly as president and adviser to the Thursday Lun- cheon Group. Since her retirement in 2009, Amb. Davis has served as the chair (and a founding member) of the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge, an organiza- tion devoted to promoting women’s economic empow- erment. She also chairs the selection committee for the Charles B. Rangel Interna- tional Affairs Fellowship at Howard University’s Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center. As vice president of the Association of Black American Ambassadors, she participates in activities involving the recruitment, preparation, hiring, retention, mentoring and promotion of minority Foreign Service employees. Davis currently serves on the Board of Visitors for the Defense Language Institute, the Board of Directors of the Senior Seminar Alumni Asso- ciation, the Advisory Council of the Foreign Service Youth AFSA NEWS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION Ambassador Ruth A. Davis to Receive AFSA’S Premier Award Foundation and the Board of the American Academy of Diplomacy. She is vice president of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, and president of the Interna- tional Mission of Mercy, USA. She is a senior adviser to the Thursday Luncheon Group and the Interna- tional Career Advancement Program at the University of Denver, where she serves annually as a counselor and speaker and was honored with ICAP’s first Diversity Award for visionary leader- ship and fostering diversity within foreign affairs. Finally, Davis is a member of AFSA and the Association for Diplo- matic Studies and Training. Davis has received the Department of State’s Supe- rior Honor Award, Arnold L. Raphel Memorial Award and Equal Employment Opportu- nity Award; the Secretary of State’s Achievement Award; the Director General’s Foreign Service Cup; two Presiden- tial Distinguished Service Awards; and Honorary Doc- torates of Law fromMiddle- bury and Spelman Colleges. She was recently named to The Economist’s 2015 Global Diversity List as one of the Top 50 Diversity Figures in Public Life. Previous recipients of the AFSA award include George H.W. Bush, Thomas Pickering, George Shultz, Richard Lugar, Joan Clark, Tom Boyatt, Sam Nunn, Rozanne Ridgway, Charles Stuart Kennedy and William Harrop. n —Soren Smallwood, Awards Intern JOAQUINSOSA/AFSA Ambassador Ruth A. Davis with FSO Clayton Bond at AFSA’s May 22, 2014, gala dinner at the State Department celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Foreign Service. Ruth A. Davis