The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2003

8 AFSA NEWS • JULY-AUGUST 2003 AFSA Special Achievement Award Mette Beecroft T he unifying theme inMette Beecroft’s 33 years of Foreign Service life (as both spouse and employee) has been advocacy for “quality of life” issues for FS employees and their fami- lies. AFSA is honoring her with a special achievement award for her countless efforts and achievements that have made life better for members of the Foreign Service community. A quarter-century ago, as a boardmember of the Association of American Foreign ServiceWomen (now the Associates of the American Foreign ServiceWorldwide, or AAFSW), Beecroft was a driving force behind the creation of the Family Liaison Office and the overseas Community Liaison Offices. Amajor AAFSWreport— based on a 6,000-person survey—proposed the opening of a family liaison office to Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in 1978, and Beecroft was selected as the first deputy director of the newly-created FLO. “As we had no specific instruction, it was up to Janet Lloyd (the first FLO director) andme to shape the program,” Beecroft says. Over the next 15 years, accompanying her husband abroad, Beecroft worked tirelessly and imaginatively to expand and strengthen the FLO-CLO infrastructure. She served as CLO in Bonn (1980-83) and in Brussels (1991-94), and as temporary CLO or CLO adviser in Cairo (1983-85), Ouagadougou (1988- 91) and Amman (1994-96). Since 1996 Beecroft has been inWashington, D.C., where she has served three terms as AAFSWpresident. She is now AAFSWpresi- dent-emerita. Wearing her AAFSWhat, she has worked with AFSA on numerous initiatives, including scholarships, Elderhostel, legisla- tive initiatives and other programs. Since 2000 Beecroft has also been a full-time employee of the State Department’s Transportation office, helping make the division more customer-friendly. The winner of many previous awards, including the Department of State Superior Honor Award, Beecroft cites the FLO/CLO “men- tality” to explain her extraordinary career of outstanding dedication and energy in the service of FS families. “This mentality is character- ized by the will to safeguard and improve the quality of life for us all, the patience to advocate for change no matter how tedious, the con- cern to provide people with individual, non-bureaucratic support when they need it, and,” says Beecroft, “a sense of outrage in the face of situations, regulations or practices that are unacceptable and need to be changed.” Mette Beecroft attendedWellesley College andMiddlebury College, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Her husband, Robert Mason Beecroft, is currently serving as ambas- sador and chief of mission at the OSCE in Sarajevo. The Beecrofts have two grown children, Pamela and Christopher. 2 0 0 3 A F S A A C H I E V E M E N T A W A R D W I N N E R S AFSA RetiredMember Achievement Award Richard (Dick) Thompson R ichard (Dick) Thompson is a dedicated member of AFSA who has given of himself in the past and continues to give to the association and to the Foreign Service. “I am very grate- ful to AFSA for this honor,” Dick said, on being named for the award. “My years of involvement with AFSA have made me understand clearly the importance of the work of the association, which many members of the Foreign Service do not seem to rec- ognize.” Following retirement in January 1988, Dick joined the AFSA staff as coordinator for professional issues, a position he held until 2000. Throughout these 12 years, Dick’s service went far beyond his part-time salary. “Dick came to the office on an almost full- time basis although he was only paid for a half-time position,” says AFSA Executive Director Susan Reardon. “I believe he did this due to his dedi- cation and love of both the Foreign Service and AFSA.” As professional issues coordinator, Dick’s chief responsibili- ty was for the memorial plaque and awards pro- grams. But he also organized speaker lunches, served as acting scholarship administrator and develop- ment director, helped establish AFSA’s speakers bureau and minor- ity internships in the State Department, and staffed AFSA elections. After retiring from the AFSA staff, Dick has continued to serve as a volunteer on the AFSA Election and Awards and Memorial Plaque Committees. He also proofreads the Foreign Service Journal each month, and his eye for detail and extensive knowl- edge of the Foreign Service and key personnel contribute signifi- cantly to the accuracy of the Journal . He continues to be a fount of knowledge – shared regularly and with good cheer — on the history of AFSA and the Foreign Service for AFSA staff members. Dick was born in Spokane, Wash., in 1933, and grew up in Pullman, Wash., home of Washington State University, where his father was a professor of French and later Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Dick received a B.A. in political science from WSU in 1955, an M.A. (Oxon.) from Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholar, and an M.A. in government from Georgetown University. Following two years of service in the U.S. Army, Dick entered the Foreign Service in 1960. Service included postings to Aruba, Curacao, Niamey, Saigon (two and one-half tours), Paris, Algeria and Washington, D.C. The highlights of his Foreign Service career were participation in the Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam, which led to the 1973 Paris Agreement, and supporting the talks in Algiers that resulted in the freeing of the Tehran hostages in January 1981. Beecroft, joined by Sec. Powell, presenting the AAFSW/Secretary of State Awards for Outstanding Volunteerism in May 2002. Mette Beecroft (right) with Alma Powell in May 2001. Dick Thompson