The Foreign Service Journal, September 2017

32 SEPTEMBER 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Among Amb. Powell’s unique contributions to American diplomacy is her leadership role in the U.S. response to two high- profile pandemic disease threats. From 2005 to 2006, she served as the State Department’s special representative for avian influ- enza, responsible for coordinating international preparations and assistance to meet the threat under the U.S. National Avian Influenza Strategy. As part of this effort, she designed and set up a special interagency task force within the State Department dedicated exclusively to coordinating all international aspects of the U.S. preparation for and response to the pandemic. Following her retirement in 2014, she was called back to the State Depart- ment to lead the response to the Ebola outbreak. In 2006, Amb. Powell was named the National Intelligence Council’s first national intelligence officer for South Asia. She proceeded to lead the NIC’s effort to expand cover- age of this critical region. The Partnership for Public Service acknowledged her pioneering public service on the critical international issues of pandemic disease threats and terrorism, awarding her the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for Homeland Security and Law Enforcement in 2006. The Samuel J. Heyman medals, known as “the Sammies,” are considered the “Oscars” of U.S. government service. In 2007 President George W. Bush appointed Ms. Powell U.S. ambassador to Nepal, where she served until 2009, when she was named Director General of the Foreign Service, a position she held until 2012. President Barack Obama appointed her as the first female U.S. ambassador to India in 2012, and she retired with the rank of Career Ambassador fromNew Delhi in May 2014. Amb. Powell’s gift for identifying and developing talent at all levels is well-known. In 2003 she received the State Department’s Arnold Lewis Raphel Memo- rial Award in recognition of her efforts to promote and develop the people around her, especially entry-level officers. In retirement, she has mentored ambassadorial seminar classes. Foreign Service Journal Editor Shawn Dorman inter- viewed Amb. Powell on July 11. u Foreign Service Journal: Congratulations on the award! It is an honor to have the chance to highlight your outstanding career as a Foreign Service leader and mentor, and your contributions to diplomacy. Nancy J. Powell: Thank you. FSJ: You were born and raised in Iowa. Did you meet any diplomats or foreigners growing up there? Did you have a chance to travel much during your youth? NJP: I grew up in Cedar Falls and Le Mars, Iowa. Foreigners were few and far between. There were only a few foreign students in the colleges in the two towns, plus our Danish neighbors in Cedar Falls and my Swedish-born grandmother. My actual travels as a young person were limited to short family vacations, primarily in the Midwest, but I was an avid reader of books about other parts of the world, was inspired by my high school world history teacher to follow world events and even used my baby-sitting money to purchase season tickets to the local Rotary Club’s series of travelogue films. Later, my summer vacations as a teacher included study programs on Long Island and in Hawaii and Pakistan. FSJ: After graduating in 1970 with a B.A. in history and edu- cation at the University of Northern Iowa, you stayed in the state to teach high school social studies. Would you say that experi- I didn’t know about the Foreign Service until I participated in a U.S. government-sponsored program for secondary teachers in Pakistan in 1975. Ambassador Nancy J. Powell delivers remarks on receiving AFSA’s 2017 Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy on June 20 in the State Department’s Dean Acheson Auditorium. AFSA/TOYASARNOJORDAN