The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2016 61 Accompanied by my wife (at my own expense), I traveled to many countries we had never seen in the Foreign Service; got local country reports from savvy business people with whom, as a former political officer, I had had little previous contact; stayed in top hotels familiar to the wealthy prospective donors; and ate at top restaurants and was invited to stay in lovely homes. (My FS pension helped me make ends meet, given the lower starting salary at Brown.) After more than three successful years at Brown, an old For- eign Service friend introduced me to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, where I established a similar program. I then set up fundraising for the new Princess Royal Trust for Carers (which involved visits to Buckingham Palace, lunches with Princess Anne, and a broken ankle while out shooting near Loch Lomond in Scotland). Next came a position as secretary general of the Interna- tional Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies, where in th e process of multiplying their fundraising take I got an education on brutal politicking between national chapters and prima donna volunteers in America and Europe. And finally, as the sole fundraiser for Passports for Pets , I helped inspire the campaign that succeeded in ending the draconian six-month quarantine of dogs and cats imported into the United King- dom. In the process, I met more top society donors than I ever knew existed and earned the gratitude of people such as Gover- nor Chris Patten, who was returning from Hong Kong with his two dogs. My subsequent switch into academia was less dramatic. Foreign Service experience and a Ph.D. (fromThe George Washington University) won me the position of program head for international relations and diplomacy at the London branch of Schiller International University in 1994. I held that position until 2011, when I retired at age 80, having simultane- ously taught courses at four other universities in London and directed the new American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy in Paris. So, my fellow FSOs, take heart. Your talents are highly mar- ketable, and there is much to learn and enjoy once you realize that retirement, like college graduation, can open up new worlds for your delectation. George Lambrakis is a retired Senior FSO with experience in a dozen countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia. He lives in Paris. BUSINESSCARDSCOURTESYOFGEORGELAMBRAKIS