The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2015 75 AFSA NEWS AFSA National High School Essay Contest Winner Thomas Keller, Episcopal School of Dallas Dallas, Texas Runner-Up Anuj Krishnamurthy, The Lawrenceville School Monmouth Junction, New Jersey Coverage of Thomas’ trip to Washington, D.C., will appear in a future issue of AFSA News. 2015 AFSA Award Winners Ambassador William C. Harrop Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Constructive Dissent Awards Thomas M. Duffy Christian A. Herter Award for a Senior Foreign Service Officer Samuel Kotis William R. Rivkin Award for a Mid-Level FSO Amelia Shaw W. Averell Harriman Award for an Entry-Level FSO Jeffrey Bing F. Allen “Tex” Harris Award for a Foreign Service Specialist Exemplary Performance Awards Mary Beth Bechtel Avis Bohlen Award for a Foreign Service Family Member Julia Harrison Veronica Peters (runner-up) Nelson B. Delavan Award for a Foreign Service Office Management Specialist Alexei Trofim Sara Locke and Jamie Bellamy (runners-up) M. Juanita Guess Award for a Community Liaison Officer Andrew Young Joshua Baker (runner-up) Mark Palmer Award for the Advancement of Democracy Charlee Doom AFSA Post Representative of the Year Award Ambassador Andrew Winter AFSAAchievement and Contributions to the Association Award Full coverage of AFSA’s June 9 awards ceremony, profiles of the winners and related articles will appear in the September issue of The Foreign Service Journal . vice specialist, died on May 26, 2014, from injuries suf- fered during a gas explosion in her Moscow apartment. (See the May AFSA News for their profiles.) AFSA Merit Awards Reception AFSA concluded the day by hosting an afternoon reception and award cer- emony to honor its nearly two dozen art and academic merit award winners for the 2014-2015 school year. The winners competed for the monetary prizes among a highly competitive pool of Foreign Service high school seniors whose parents are active-duty or retired AFSA members. (See pp. 77-80 for a full write-up on the program and this year’s winners.) The reception was well attended by merit award donors, locally based winners and past award recipients, parents, volun- teer award panel judges and Foreign Service retirees. It was also a positive way to end this year’s Foreign Affairs Day. Surely anyone in attendance could not help but think that some of these promising young members of today’s Foreign Service family will soon be among tomorrow’s foreign affairs practitioners. n —Maria C. Livingston, Associate Editor