The Foreign Service Journal, September 2005

SEPTEMBER 2005 • AFSA NEWS 5 service to their country. Innumerable oth- ers havemade the deep personal sacrifices of being away from their families, of risk- ing their health in difficult posts, and of forgoingmore lucrative financial oppor- tunities in other fields. Rarely are these sacrifices celebrated or even understood by casual observers.” Honoring Dissenters TheWilliamR. Rivkin Award for dis- sent by a mid-level Foreign Service offi- cer was presented to Geoff Pyatt for his intellectual courage in pushing for new opportunities in the U.S.-India relation- ship while serving as political counselor for Embassy NewDelhi. The award was presented by Ambassador William Rivkin’s son Robert, who noted that his father “was never so happy as when bril- liant young Foreign Service officers would challenge him.” Claire Coleman accepted the award on Pyatt’s behalf. The great-granddaughter of Averell Harriman, Caroline Easterling, present- ed the W. Averell Harriman Award for dissent by a junior Foreign Service offi- cer to James Arlen Holt, for his courage in reporting apparent fraud and abuse of power committed by a more senior offi- cer while serving as a general services offi- cer for Embassy Seoul during his first Foreign Service tour. Ambassador WilliamHarrop, noting that specialists have not been recognized often enough, presented the Tex Harris Award for dissent by a Foreign Service specialist to F. Scott Gallo. Gallo was rec- ognized for his brave refusal to move embassy personnel onto a new residen- tial compound that he and many col- leagues believed was insecure. His dis- senting view eventually prevailed and the necessary changes were made. Honoring Outstanding Performance Amb. Harrop presented the Delavan Award for a Foreign Service office man- agement specialist to Nancy Alain for her outstanding performance in Baghdad under extremely difficult con- ditions. Alisa Hanson was asked to stand to be honored as the runner-up for this award. Jon Clements presented the M. Juanita Guess Award for an outstanding community liaison officer to Catherine C. McSherry and Marilyn D. Tarter of Embassy Bangkok, for their exemplary work mobilizing the community in response to the December 2004 tsunami disaster and aftermath. FSNCLOcolleague Kun Jeed of Embassy Bangkok was present andMcSherry and Tarter graciously asked her to stand and be recognized as well. Caroline Easterling presented the Avis Bohlen Award for a Foreign Service family member to Lisa Vershbow (the wife of the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow) for her tremendous achievements in bringing American con- temporary art and craft to Russia and for reaching out to the Russian community through art. The runner-up for this award, Fatima Goodspeed, was honored during the ceremony as well. David Dlouhy received a special achievement award for facilitatingmajor positive changes in the services provid- ed by the Retirement Office, including the creation of the Web-based “RNet” sup- port service. The awardwas presented by John Limbert. The onlyway AFSA can honor the dis- senters among us is if we hear about them, from you. If you work with or know of someone who has had the courage to challenge the system fromwithin, please consider submitting an AFSA dissent award nomination. It is never too early to do this. You can find the nomination requirements at www.afsa.org/awards/ index.cfm. r Clockwise, from top: AFSA award winners, from left; David Dlouhy, Lisa Vershbow, Catherine McSherry, Marilyn Tarter, Nancy Alain, Scott Gallo, James Holt and Claire Coleman; wearing Lisa Vershbow jewelry creations, from left: Kaara Ettesvold, Lisa Vershbow, Janet Hahn and Jenny Stein (Amb. Alexander Vershbow in back row); Scott Gallo’s daughter with his certificate.