The Foreign Service Journal, November 2009

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 57 Amb. Roz Ridgway Establishes New AFSA Scholarship I n August, Ambassador Rozanne Ridgway graciously established an AFSA scholarship in her name for Foreign Service children attending college or university. In addition, the Sara Lee Corporation has made a very generous donation to the Ambassador Ridgway scholarship in gratitude for her service on its board of directors. Amb. Ridgway was a member of the Foreign Service for 32 years, from 1957 to 1989. Her diplo- matic career included postings as am- bassador to Finland (1977-1980) and ambassador to the German Democratic Republic (1983-1985). As the assistant secretary of State for European and Canadian affairs (1985-1989), she was the lead negotiator at the five historic Reagan-Gor- bachev summits. She re- ceived the Presidential Citizen’s Medal from Pres- ident Reagan in recogni- tion of her service. Since her retirement from the Foreign Service, Amb. Ridgway’s involve- ment in foreign affairs has been unwavering, includ- ing serving as president and later co- chairman of the Atlantic Council and as a trustee at the Brookings Institution, the George C.Marshall Foundation and the National Geographic Society. She has served on the board of some of America’s largest corporations, includ- ing Manpower, 3M and Boeing. She is married to Captain Theodore E. Dem- ing, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.). The Ambassador Rozanne L. (Roz) Ridgway Perpetual Financial Aid Schol- arship will go into effect starting with the 2010-2011 academic year. For information on applying for a scholarship or making a scholarship do- nation, please contact Lori Dec, AFSA Scholarship Director, at (202) 944-5504 or at dec@afsa.org, or visit www.afsa. org/scholar. ❏ A F S A N E W S Amb. Rozanne L. (Roz) Ridgway. O n Oct. 1, a multiyear process un- dertaken by the national Elder- hostel organization came to an end with the formal announcement of a new name. The name chosen to repre- sent all future programs is Exploritas, which is a combination of “explore”and “veritas,” the Latin word for truth. Since 1975, the organization has of- fered thousands of educational pro- grams across the globe to participants who are at least 55 years old. AFSA has played a key role by offering programs on foreign policy and the Foreign Serv- ice under the Elderhostel banner since 1996. Over that period, nearly 10,000 people have enrolled in AFSA’s pro- grams, which take place in five locations around the country: Washington, D.C., Tucson, Ariz., St. Petersburg, Fla., At- lanta, Ga., and Chautauqua, N.Y. The Elderhostel organization has mulled the pros and cons of the old name for a number of years. Research found that the name discouraged poten- tial participants from joining, because “elder” suggested that the average age of those enrolled was quite high and “hos- tel” indicated that accommodations were threadbare and uncomfortable. The organization hopes that the new branding will dispel such ideas. The name“Elderhostel”has not van- ished completely, however. The corpo- rate part of the organization will retain that name, and the new name will apply only to the actual program offerings. AFSA has transi- tioned to the new name for its upcom- ing programs, which include two March events: one on the Middle East, South Asia and global ter- rorism; and another that focuses on China and East Asia. The AFSA programs will continue to be ad- ministered by Bernie Alter. More infor- mation can be found at www.afsa. org/exploritas. AFSA’s Exploritas programs are part of our outreach efforts through the Fund for American Diplomacy, which also sponsors the national high school essay contest, the AFSA awards, our speakers bureau, the memorial plaques, the book Inside a U.S. Embassy , the Sin- claire Language Awards and the AFSA- TLG minority intern program. ❏ NAME CHANGE TO BETTER REFLECT MISSION Elderhostel Becomes Exploritas BY ASGEIR SIGFUSSON, MARKETING AND OUTREACH MANAGER JOSH