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New Traditions: First Annual IR/PS Awards Night

Welcoming Our New Alumni

07/20/2007
Allison Uros,

On June 15, 2007, IR/PS initiated a new tradition by holding the first annual IR/PS Awards Night to commemorate IR/PS graduates for their outstanding achievements during their tenure. In the past, traditional student awards were given at commencement, but as Dean Cohwey noted, by moving the awards ceremony to a separate event, the graduation class will officially join the prestigious ranks of the IR/PS alumni.  

The evening began with Cowhey’s induction speech celebrating the new tradition. He distinguished the night as not only a night focused on the school's most recent graduates, but also the school's alumni and their contributions to the Pacific Century. “The first annual IR/PS Awards Night establishes commencement weekend as not only the marking of the next step of IR/PS students’ lives, but also as a celebration of the achievements of our students and alumni,” said Cowhey. The recognition of the alumni was exemplified with the commencement of the new IR/PS Alumni Association: 2007 Outstanding Achievement Award. The anticipation to see the progress of the new graduating class in the world of international affairs heightened as the evening evolved and the traditional student awards were presented to the newest alumni.

The awards included:

  • The Language Achievement Award – for outstanding achievement in language study and proficiency
    • John Gray for the study of Chinese
    • Bryan Green for the study of Japanese
    • Paul Henning for the study of Spanish
  • The Allison Award to Christopher LaBrutto for his outstanding academic achievement and a graduating grade point average of 3.901.
  • The Wyman Award to Nina Merchant for her commitment to leadership, public service, and international understanding.
  • The Doming Liu Award, a new award, to Paul Schuler for exemplifying the spirit, wisdom, and exuberance of alumna, Doming M. Liu.
  • The Professor Joseph Grunwald Award to Sean Porter for his contributions in the promotion of inter-American understanding.


The evening progressed with the granting of the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award, the final award of the evening. The new special recognition required intensive decision-making by the IR/PS Alumni Association. The criteria for nomination included the achievements of an alumni who best represented the mission of IR/PS to help shape the Pacific Century via: leadership of the community, business, or globe; innovative ideas that benefit a community; and development of community and global networks. The nominees included nine alumni who not only excelled during their academic careers at IR/PS, but who also applied the teachings and mission of IR/PS to their careers and civic lives.

The nominees included:

  • Lara Gonzales (1994): After IR/PS, Lara Gonzales opted for the career of an educator. Currently working as a high school educator, Lara Gonzales has worked vigorously for her proposal of an enriched curriculum for a new Advanced Placement course in world history that she designed. Lara has also focused on minority development education and has incorporated these issues into her master’s thesis at Columbia University.
  • Scott Ki (1994): As the senior director for Korea in the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Scott played a vital role in the recent, successful negotiation of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. During the negotiations Scott was the lead U.S. negotiator on sectors of primary importance to the United States, including automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and competition policy. 
  • Keely Wachs (2004): While serving as the environmental communications manager at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Keely facilitates messaging and media strategy to promote the company’s environmental leadership around renewable energy, energy efficiency, alternative fuel transportation, and sustainable communities.  
  • Darren Posey (2005): Darren uprooted in 2006 to join the CRS/Pakistan team in Quetta to target refugee communities living in camps along the Afghan border. Since he left for Pakistan, Darren has assisted in a variety of support programs ranging from legal protection against unlawful arrest, to vocational and small enterprise management training to literacy and self-help groups for women.
  • Jeremy Eckstein (2005):  Jeremy currently resides in Bangladesh for the IRI where he works towards the organization of an international election program. This work includes observation programs that work to mobilize civil society to engage politicians. In addition to his work in Bangladesh, Jeremy has also managed election observation projects in Liberia and political party reform in Sudan.
  • Paul Frost (2001): Paul’s work involves a more direct contribution to IR/PS itself; he led the initiative to begin the Washington, D.C. alumni chapter’s “Quarterly Breakfast Speaker Series.”  These events clearly distinguish IR/PS as being at the leading edge of current political and economic events by having timely and well-regarded speakers.
  • Gigo Alampy (1996): Gigo is the founder and executive director of the Center for Art, New Venture and Sustainable Development (CANVAS) – a nonprofit organization in the Philippines that helps to promote art and culture. Gigo is also recognized as one of the country’s top legal experts in information and communications technology (ICT) law and policy.


With such a great slate of nominees, the decision was tough, but with great pleasure the IR/PS Alumni Association recognized the work of Kama Dean (2001) and Chris Pesenti (2001) as co-directors of Pro Peninsula. The award was presented by Paul Lamb (1995) who was honored in 2005 by UC San Diego as the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year. Pro Peninsula was conceived from the duo’s master thesis while at IR/PS, and began offering assistance to organizations in Baja California in September 2001. What began as a dream emerged into one of the leading conservation efforts in the region. Projects range from scientific research to advocacy and outreach to environmental education. Each project is carried out at the community level with the ultimate goal of creating a program that involves the community in long-term environmental protection. 

Click Here to view a photo gallery of the evening.

 

 

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