MSFS Alumni Newsletter - Special Centennial Edition

MSFS Leadership – Centennial Message

Dear MSFS Community,

We wish you a warm welcome to the New Year, and wanted to share with you a recap here of the joyous finale to our Centennial year celebrations that took place December 2nd and 3rd, 2022. Our centennial celebrations helped to reconnect us with one another, honor our shared history, reaffirm our mission, and lean forward into our next amazing century.

Our mission is to prepare our students to engage with global challenges and opportunities in all their forms. As reflected in the many stories shared at the Gala, our students and alumni continually use their training, ingenuity, and MSFS networks to forge a safer, more prosperous, equitable and peaceful world. They have tackled and shaped virtually every significant event in international affairs in the past century. It is no surprise that they are adapting to new global changes and are already shaping the future!

We are working with our Advisory Board and the broader alumni and university communities to ensure that MSFS is ready for the century ahead. We welcome your input and inspiration in this endeavor!

Thank you for everything you do.

Hoya Saxa!

George Shambaugh Director, MSFS

Ashley Lenihan (SFS ’00, PHD ‘09) Deputy Director, MSFS

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

MSFS Centennial Finale Weekend Celebrations Included a Range of Events

Georgetown’s Master of Science in Foreign Service Program (MSFS) capped off its centennial year in December 2022 with a weekend of events bringing alumni, students, faculty and special guests together to celebrate the program’s unique role in educating global leaders dedicated to foreign service. The celebration included a gala dinner at the United States Institute of Peace with a keynote address by MSFS alumnus King Felipe VI of Spain (MSFS ’95).

Centennial Weekend

The weekend kicked off on Friday, December 2, with a day of events on the Hilltop open to all MSFS alumni and students. The morning began with a panel discussion on how sustainability and prosperity can coexist, hosted by the Global Leadership Assembly Foundation (GLAF) — a nonprofit founded by several MSFS alumni — in conjunction with SFS. The discussion was moderated by Tanja Kleinsorge (MSFS ‘93) and Lisa Kuhn (MSFS ‘00).

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

Next, George Tenet (SFS '76), former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sat down for a discussion on a wide-range of contemporary issues in international politics with SFS Dean Joel Hellman. Tenet engaged with the attentive audience, which included notable alumni, students,

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

Centennial Gala Dinner

Friday evening, MSFS celebrated with a gala dinner at the United States Institute of Peace featuring a keynote address by His Majesty King Felipe VI

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

Director George Shambaugh and MSFS Deputy Director Ashley Lenihan (SFS ‘00, PhD ‘09) welcomed attendees, and recognized the generous sponsors whose contributions made the evening possible. In all, the gala raised nearly $320,000 for MSFS scholarships and programs, including $211,000 for the MSFS Futures Scholarship.

MSFS

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

The MSFS Centennial Awards honored six distinguished alumni whose life and work embody the MSFS program’s core values. Nominated by their peers, and selected by a committee of MSFS alumni, the awards highlighted the extraordinary extent to which graduates have gone on to have careers that advance the program’s values.

Amb. Donald McHenry (PHD ’64) presented the awards to Ragnheiður Elín

Árnadóttir (MSFS ’94), Amb. Marcia Bernicat (MSFS ’80), Nicole Bibbins

Sedaca (MSFS ’97), Raja Karthikeya Gundu (MSFS ’09), and Michael

Samway (MSFS ’91) in absentia. The late Paula Gene Loyd (MSFS ’04) was also a recipient. Loyd’s classmate, Corey Golden (MSFS ’04), accepted the award on her behalf.

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain (MSFS ’95), offered thoughts on his time in the MSFS program and its lasting impact on his life. His Majesty urged the audience to reflect deeply on what the future is going to demand of them — and in rising to the occasion, to draw from Georgetown’s interdisciplinary spirit and come to the table with empathy.

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

Sylvia Yacoub (MSFS ’23) closed out the night with a stunning rendition of Andra Day’s “Rise Up.” Following her performance, everyone took to the dance floor for a night of celebration.

The weekend closed with a brunch hosted by Dean Hellman and the MSFS leadership for the awardees and current MSFS students.

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

MSFS Celebrates 100 Years

Read About the Centennial Online

Did you miss the MSFS Centennial Gala 2022? Relive the festivities featuring alumni, students, faculty, and special guests in our latest MSFS spotlight, and videos linked below!

MSFS at 100 Years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntOkRF0JJjE. In this video, students and SFS leaders highlight the history, mission, community, and far-reaching contributions of MSFS alumni as the world faces new challenges that our graduates will encounter in the century to come.

MSFS Centennial Awards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=548iCPVhn58.

The MSFS Centennial Awards recognize a small group of distinguished alumni who embody the program’s guiding principles of leadership, creativity, ethics, service, and inclusion.

Call for Alumni Updates

Dear alumni,

We are always looking for better ways to connect with you. To help us better serve you, and to ensure you are receiving our newsletters and event invitations, please fill out this information update form.

We would also love to hear any news that you would like to share with your classmates as part of our next alumni newsletter!

To share your news, please fill out the same form, available at: https://forms.gle/5SULt7wtxJ99jAsV8.

The ‘Class Updates’ section will be a regular feature of our alumni newsletters going forward, and a great opportunity for you to reconnect with your classmates. If you have recently visited with your classmates, and would like to share a picture, please email it to msfsdeputydirector@georgetown.edu.

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