The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2010

38 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 0 A D ETERMINED O PTIMIST : L. B RUCE L AINGEN I N J UNE AFSA RECOGNIZED THE RETIRED AMBASSADOR ’ S MANY CONTRIBUTIONS TO A MERICAN DIPLOMACY AND HIS LIFETIME OF PUBLIC SERVICE . B Y S TEVEN A LAN H ONLEY n June 24, Ambassador Lowell Bruce Laingen received the American Foreign Service Association’s Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy, in recognition of a distinguished 38-year Foreign Service career and a lifetime of public service. Past recipients of the award include U. Alexis Johnson, Frank Carlucci, George H.W. Bush, Lawrence Eagleburger, Cyrus Vance, DavidNew- som, Lee Hamilton, Thomas Pickering, George Shultz, Richard Parker, Richard Lugar, Morton Abramowitz, Joan Clark, Tom Boyatt and Sam Nunn. Born on a farm near Odin, Minn., on Aug. 6, 1922, Bruce Laingen graduated fromSt. Olaf College with a B.A. in history and economics, cum laude, in 1947, and was the recipient of the college’s Harold Stassen Award. He went on to earn an M.A. in international relations from the University of Min- nesota in 1949, and later attended the National War College. During World War II, Laingen served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946, joining the Foreign Service in 1949. His overseas postings included Germany, Iran, Pakistan, Afghani- stan and Malta, where he was U.S. ambassador from 1977 to 1979. Later that year, Ambassador Laingen returned to Tehran as chargé d’affaires for what was supposed to be just six to eight weeks. But when student protestors overran the U.S. embassy on Nov. 4, 1979, he and two other American officials were at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, where they were detained for the next 14 months. For his leadership and courage during that ordeal, Amb. Laingen received the State Department’s Award for Valor. He has also received the Distinguished Public Service medal from the Department of Defense, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from St. Olaf College, the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement, a Presidential Mer- itorious Award and the Foreign Service Cup, among many other honors. From 1981 to 1987, Amb. Laingen served as vice president of the National Defense University, a post traditionally held by a senior diplomat. After retiring from the Foreign Service in 1987, he served as executive director of the National Com- mission on the Public Service (the Volcker Commission) until the commission completed its work in 1990. Also in 1987, the ambassador was elected as a retiree mem- ber of the AFSA Governing Board and was appointed chair- man of the AFSA Awards Committee (which later became the Awards and Plaques Committee), a post he held for two decades. In gratitude for Amb. Laingen’s distinguished, ded- icated service to AFSA, the association conferred a special award of appreciation on him at the June 22, 2006, awards cer- emony. As a Foreign Service Journal report on the ceremony noted, “During his tenure, he succeeded in greatly improving the standing of the AFSA awards and consistently provided wise guidance in the important task of honoring members of the Foreign Service who have lost their lives overseas in the line of duty. … In his modest and understated way, he also made a tremendous contribution to the awards program, helping the association continue to honor dissent through the only such program for U.S. government employees.” From 1991 to 2006, Amb. Laingen rendered similarly ex- emplary service as president of the American Academy of Steven Alan Honley is the editor of the Journal . O