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SIS Names Faculty, Alumna of the Year at Pakistan Embassy
Two members of the SIS community were honored with the school's highest faculty and alumni awards in a ceremony at the Embassy of Pakistan on April 11. Professor Rachel Sullivan Robinson was named the 2012 - 2013 recipient of the F. Gunther Eyck Award, given annually since 2011 to an SIS faculty member who demonstrates dedication and devotion to teaching and students. Lisa Martilotta Lamprecht, SIS/MA '03, received the Alumna of the Year award for her work on women and youth issues in developing countries. Are Drones Winning the War on Terror?
Should drones be the U.S. military weapons of choice for the war on terrorism? The argument from the White House is a resounding "yes" in the face of shrinking military budgets, popular opposition to more troops and the perception that drones help keep America safe. But there are serious drawbacks to relying on drones, says Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, a world-renowned author, diplomat and scholar. SIS Remembers Dean William Olson, Announces Mentoring Program
Friends, family and colleagues gathered in the Kay Spiritual Life Center on April 10 to honor Dean William Olson, who passed away last year. One of Olson's greatest achievements, according to Dean Emeritus Louis Goodman, was strengthening SIS. "Bill focused on the quality of the academic study of international relations and personal relations within the school," he said. "When he stepped down in 1986, SIS's enrollment had almost doubled. In the 27 years since Bill left the SIS deanship, the school continues to grow firmly in the foundation he created." 
Moisés Naím, senior associate in the International Economics Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, will address SIS graduates at their commencement, 1 p.m., Sunday, May 12. His career has spanned the worlds of journalism, as former editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy, to public service, as Venezuela's minister of trade and industry, and executive director of the World Bank. Naím will receive an honorary doctor of international affairs degree. Calling all alumni: Have you moved or changed jobs? Be sure to update your information to ensure you continue to receive AU and SIS news, information and volunteer opportunities. Class Notes We invite readers to send comments to SISComm@american.edu. Please include your graduation year and degree. Katharine Tully, SIS/BA '82, died in August 2012 after a lengthy illness. Kathleen Gibbons, SIS/BA '84, joined the Women's Enterprise Development Center Board of Directors. Mehrzad Boroujerdi, SIS/Ph.D. '90, published Mirror for the Muslim Prince: Islam and Theory of Statecraft (Syracuse University Press, 2013). Getting to Know You - Nathan Slusher 
Title: Director of Academic and Career Advising Job Duties: I oversee the undergraduate and graduate academic advising offices, and SIS's new career advising initiatives. Many facets of my job are still evolving. Tenure at SIS: Just over a month. Before coming to AU, I worked in undergraduate advising at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs for nearly nine years. The best part of working at SIS: I haven't yet had the opportunity to meet many students, but the staff and faculty have been incredibly welcoming and supportive. First job: In the movie business - I worked at Blockbuster Video in college. (My wife rolls her eyes when I say that.) We were just starting to carry these new DVD things when I left, and we worried that they wouldn't be as durable as VHS tapes. That mindset could be part of the reason why most our students haven't heard of Blockbuster. Hobbies: My wife and I love to cook, though I'm usually relegated to the role of sous chef when we cook together. I'm not terribly athletic, but I enjoy running, biking and yoga. I also sing in my church choir because no one should hear me sing by myself. I'm reading: Beyond the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo. It's non-fiction that reads like a novel. Favorite book and movie: I don't know if I could name one favorite book, but I really enjoy reading author Haruki Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, Kafka on the Shore). I think I discovered him in a book club several years ago. Picking a favorite movie is also hard, especially since I used to work in the "movie business" and have seen so many, but I'd have to say it's hard to top "E.T." I know almost every line, and when I watch it, I'm instantly transported back to the awe and wonder I experienced while watching it as a child. Favorite D.C. hangout: The Uptown movie theater in Cleveland Park. Favorite dish: Mango chicken curry. Last vacation: My wife and I went to India in January 2012. I'd been once before to meet my wife's extended family, have our engagement ceremony and buy all of the things we'd need for our wedding back in the U.S., so we didn't get to do any sight-seeing. This trip was much more relaxed, included a tour of the Golden Triangle with a side trip to a tiger reserve, and involved just as much good food.
Professor Kristin Smith Diwan: Interviewed in "Kuwait Gives 5-Year Term to Dissenter," The New York Times, April 15. Professors Philip Brenner and Manuel Suarez-Mier: Interviewed in "Winner of Venezuela's Presidential Vote to Face Challenges," Voice of America, April 12. Professor Gordon Adams: Opinion piece, "Mirage Across the Potomac," Foreign Policy, April 12. Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies Professor Akbar Ahmed: Opinion piece, "Waziristan: 'The Most Dangerous Place in the World" (with Harrison Akins), Al-Jazeera, April 12. Professor Jeff Colgan: Interviewed in "U.S. Targets Web of Companies Accused of Evading Iran Sanctions," Reuters, April 11. Professor Hillary Mann Leverett: Interviewed in podcast discussion on Iran, The Guardian (U.K.), April 9. Professor Robert Pastor: Interviewed in "Inquiry is Sought in Death of Castro Critic," The New York Times, April 4.
Professor Gordon Adams: Interviewed in "Hagel Warns of Deep, New Cuts to Defense Budget," The Washington Post, April 3. Professor Robin Broad: Opinion piece, "The WTO 'Papal' Conclave," TripleCrisis, April 1. To see more SIS media appearances, please visit our SIS in the Media page. Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies Professor Akbar Ahmed spoke on "Tribal Societies & Counterterrorism in Pakistan" at the U.S. Institute of Peace April 15. He will speak on and sign his new book,The Thistle and the Drone: How America's War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam at Washington National Cathedral at 1 p.m. today, April 23. Professor Kristin Smith Diwan participated in a panel at the Brookings Institution called "The Arab Awakening and the New Sectarian Divide." Professor Jeff Colgan was featured on Princeton University's weekly alumni blog for his book, Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War. Professor Maina Singh spoke at O.P Jindal Global University (India) at the conference "Israel: Perspectives on a State in Transition" April 12. Her panel was "Being Indian, Being Israeli: Indian Jews in Israel." Professor Tazreena Sajjad will work with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) on a grant IFES has received from USAID's Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation for a project titled "Bridging the Gaps: A New Framework for Gender and Electoral Violence." She will speak at the IFES event "Elections Through Her Eyes: Women's Empowerment, Inclusion and the Electoral Process" April 25, streamable here. Various SIS faculty members participated in or presented at the International Studies Association conference in San Francisco April 3 - 6: Professors Eric Abitbol; Mohammed Abu-Nimer; ISA President-elect Amitav Acharya; Gordon Adams; David Bosco; Eve Bratman; Robin Broad; Christine Chin; Derrick L. Cogburn; Jeff Colgan; Ken Conca; Maria De Jesus; Kristin Smith Diwan; Daniel Esser; Dean James Goldgeier; Professor Emeritus Joshua Goldstein; Garrett Graddy; Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Graduate Education Tamar Gutner; Craig Hayden; Pek Koon Heng; Randy Henning; Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Patrick Thaddeus Jackson; Ben Jensen; Sikina Jinnah; Robert Kelley; Ji-Young Lee; Nanette Levinson; David Mislan; University Professor James Mittelman; Shoon Murray; Kyoung-Ah Nam; Simon Nicholson; Randolph Persaud; Christopher Rudolph; Tazreena Sajjad; Vidyamali Samarasinghe; Michael Schroeder; Loubna Skalli-Hanna; Stephen Silvia; Mireya Solis; Jordan Tama; Stephen Tankel; Ann Tickner; Shalini Venturelli; Paul Wapner; and Sharon Weiner. Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Patrick Thaddeus Jackson spoke on "Imagining International Relations as a Pluralistic Social Science" at the University of Oregon April 8. Professor Carl LeVan's Contemporary Africa class will host a fundraiser Wednesday, April 24 at Busboys and Poets (14th and V Streets NW) to benefit a Maasai community from Kenya. Cultural ambassador Chief Joseph Ole Tipanko will discuss the developmental challenges facing his community and how the Maasai Good Salvage Outreach Organization (MAGSA) is taking creative initiatives to address them. The event is open to the public, and a $20 donation is suggested. Learn more about the event on Facebook. 
As part of the series of AU events commemorating the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's commencement address, Dean James Goldgeier will host a Dean's Discussion with Thomas Schelling, recipient of the 2005 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Thursday, April 25 at 3:30 p.m. in the SIS Abramson Family Founders Room. The event is free and open to the public; please RSVP here. Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Seth Harris will speak Friday, April 26 as part of the daylong conference "One Hundred Years of U.S. Labor and Employment Relations: A Look Back, A Look Forward, and a View from a Comparative Perspective" at SIS. While the event is free and open to the public, please RSVP at the Eventbrite page. Seniors are invited to join President Neil Kerwin, SPA/BA '71, and Ann Kerwin, SOC/BA '71, the American University Alumni Board and the Office of Alumni Relations for the Toast to Graduates Friday, May 10 at 8 p.m. in the Katzen Arts Center. The evening will feature an appetizer and dessert buffet, coffee, a champagne toast, and a cash bar. The event is open to the class of 2013 and their families. To RSVP, please click here. SIS Commencement will be held Sunday, May 12 at 1 p.m. in Bender Arena and will be streamed live on the AU website. While the event is free and open to the public, seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis. A reception for SIS graduates will follow the ceremony in SIS's Sharjah Plaza (rain location: the SIS Atrium). The Deans' Happy Hour on Tuesday, May 21 from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at The Brixton (901 U Street, NW, Washington, D.C.) will feature AU's academic leadership, including SIS Dean James Goldgeier. The event is open to alumni and costs $10, which comes with a drink ticket and appetizers. To RSVP, click here. |
ALUMNI NEWS 
Have you moved or changed jobs? Read more. GETTING TO KNOW YOU - 
Title: Director of Academic and Career Advising Job Duties: I oversee the undergraduate and graduate academic advising offices, and SIS's new career advising initiatives. Many facets of my job are still evolving. GETTING INK 
Professor Kristin Smith Diwan: Interviewed in "Kuwait Gives 5-Year Term to Dissenter," The New York Times, April 15. INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTIONS Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies Professor Akbar Ahmed spoke on "Tribal Societies & Counterterrorism in Pakistan" at the U.S. Institute of Peace April 15. He will speak on and sign his new book,The Thistle and the Drone: How America's War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam at Washington National Cathedral at 1 p.m. today, April 23. EVENTS 
As part of the series of AU events commemorating the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's commencement address, Dean James Goldgeier will host a Dean's Discussion with Thomas Schelling, recipient of the 2005 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Thursday, April 25 at 3:30 p.m. in the SIS Abramson Family Founders Room. The event is free and open to the public; please RSVP here. CONNECT WITH SIS 
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Located in Washington, DC, American University's School of International Service is ranked consistently among the top ten schools of international relations. More than 3,000 students, from undergraduates to PhD candidates, representing 150 countries, are taught by over 100 full-time faculty. SIS's policy-practitioner relationships and global university partnerships help to place 80 percent of its students in internships, and enable 40 percent of graduate students, and 80 percent of undergraduates, to study abroad. The School's faculty, practicing adjuncts and interdisciplinary curriculum prepare graduates for global service in government, non-profits and business. For information regarding the accreditation and state licensing of American University, please visit www.american.edu/academics © School of International Service | American University | Washington, DC |
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