Awardee Database

Awardees

RT Hon David Miliband

In his lecture titled “The New Arrogance of Power: Global Politics in an Age of Impunity,” Mr. Miliband examined the shift today in international relations away from checks and balances on the use of power, and towards an age of impunity. His explanation of how the rules-based international order forged after World War II is being undermined serves as an urgent call to preserve the rule of law and protect the most vulnerable. A video of the lecture delivered at Pembroke College, University of Oxford, is available on their website.

Sozopol Fiction Seminar, 2019

Fellows: Joanna Elmy (BG), Eirill Falck (US), Aleksandar Hristov (BG), Maria Makedonska (BG), Karen Outen (US), Karen Parkman (US), Maria Reva (US), Albena Shkodrova (BG), Stanislava Slavova-Petkova (BG) and Melissa Wan (UK).

Marta Garcia de Bello

Marta’s leadership as a Cultural Affairs Specialist has been crucial to maintaining diplomatic relationships in Venezuela even after the official American presence there ended. Due to Marta’s resilience in the face of these difficult circumstances, outreach activities by EducationUSA and American Spaces continue guiding current and future leaders of Venezuela to become agents of positive change.

Helen Reidy

As Cultural Affairs Specialist at the U.S. Consulate General in Australia over the past 27 years, Helen has inspired hundreds of Australian students to study abroad in the United States by creating specialized outreach programs for EducationUSA and increasing media coverage to make opportunities more visible. Her unwavering dedication to educating students about study in the United States led to the U.S. becoming the first-choice destination for study abroad for Australian students. Helen has created long-lasting professional relationships that will continue to strengthen the greater U.S.-Australia partnership for years to come.

Nicole Bayer

As Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Nicole has shown great ingenuity in cultural diplomacy programming that creates lasting mutual respect and understanding between the people of the U.S. and Madagascar. Her innovative programming included a modernized English language learning symposium, a musical education workshop series that brought together local and American artists and a U.S. film festival in which films were dubbed or subtitled in Malagasy. Nicole’s deep understanding of Malagasy culture and current cultural trends and her dedication to creating impactful programming reached previously untapped audiences and made the United States the leading voice in cultural diplomacy across Madagascar.

Jeffrey Ladenson

Jeffrey’s work as a Cultural Affairs Officer transformed U.S. public diplomacy efforts in Tanzania and created a lasting positive impact. By cultivating a strong network of contacts, Jeff partnered with local organizations to host meaningful programming, such as the first-ever Tanzanian girls entrepreneurship summit for young female innovators. Jeffrey’s work demonstrates a deep compassion for and knowledge of Tanzanian culture and history through which he has created programming that is relevant to the unique interests of the Tanzanian people and advances U.S. cultural diplomacy in Tanzania.

Robin Solomon

Robin’s ingenious use of art and culture to reach Palestinian youth and women’s groups helped them develop skills help themselves through programs that provided arts management courses, entrepreneurial support, and cultural tourism development. Her collaboration with Palestinian civil society organization and intensive social research enabled her Post to innovate their engagement with Palestinian women. With delicate cultural sensitivity Robin mentored staff, grantees and alumni to build interacting layers of human resources and a strategic framework that will benefit post programs for years to come.

Monica Davis

Monica harnessed her creativity to support public diplomacy in Cambodia amid political turmoil. She engaged with Cambodia’s majority-youth population through programing that addressed themes relevant to them and that emphasized aspects of the U.S. that they admired. She was also integral to the success of her Post’s college fairs and regional youth alumni conference, further highlighting her dedication to youth-oriented programming. Her contacts and colleagues admire her kindness, work-ethic and ability to boost the impact all types of programming, including cultural preservation projects, exhibits on US-Cambodian history, and the inauguration of the New American Center.

Nadia Ouhenia

Louiza “Nadia” Ouhenia, who has worked with U.S. Embassy Algiers for 25 years, is the master of a portfolio that covers the gamut of cultural and educational engagement with Algeria, single handedly managing the Post’s entire professional exchange program. Even during the “Dark Decade,” when she faced real danger just coming to work, Nadia has been a trusted barometer for new initiatives and has proven that even seemingly impossible projects can be achieved through dedication and hard work. Her institutional memory and attention to each grantee and program partner have built bridges between embassy officials and program alumni who have opened doors and multiplied the entire Embassy’s effectiveness.

Felix Mbatalbaye

Felix Mbatalbaye, of U.S. Embassy N’Djamena in Chad, has utilized his interpersonal skills and judicious recruitment of program participants to build a powerful network of contacts in a variety of fields, and his procurement of essential resources and expertise has transformed the US Embassy into the partner of choice for Chadians over the course of his 29-year career. Always a steadfast and trusted leader, Felix ensured programs continued during the evacuation of American staff in 2008 and even drafted the Post’s first Public Diplomacy Implementation Plan during a gap between Public Affairs Officers. Approaching mandatory retirement, Felix Mbatalbaye leaves a profound legacy.

Markéta Kolářová

Marketa Kolarova, an invaluable advisor to Political Affairs Officers and Ambassadors in Prague, Czech Republic, for 28 years, revitalized US-Czech cultural relations after the Velvet Revolution. With her profound insight and managerial savvy, she midwifed the Fulbright Commission; right-sized American Spaces; and led nationwide teacher tech-training, literature engagement and English language programming, all resulting in a closer US-Czech relationship for decades to come.

Carmen Urcuyo

In her 43 years of service to the U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa, Carmen Urcuyo has trained some fourteen, mostly entry level, Cultural Affairs Officers, many of whom have even requested her mentorship after moving on to new posts. Her legendary networks and extensive program files ensured the right local partners to make every program a success. Carmen’s ability and willingness to adapt in the face of countless challenges have made her one of the Mission’s most valued and effective employees.

Sana Abed-Kotob

With her cultural insights, inspiring leadership and deep compassion, Sana Abed-Kotob has significantly and substantially advanced US cultural diplomacy. As the chief of ECA’s largest division, the Office of International Visitors, Sana manages projects that impact thousands of people around the world each year. Despite the scope of her position, Sana does not lose sight of individual needs, as she guides, mentors and inspires ECA staff and partners. Sana’s efforts have made operations more efficient, improved inter-agency cooperation and expanded public-private contributions to advancing cultural and educational exchanges. It is no exaggeration to say that every US diplomatic post in the world has benefited from Sana’s expertise in cultural diplomacy programming.

Elizabeth Doe Stone

Elizabeth Doe Stone, of the University of Virginia, explored fin-de-siècle artistic and social connections between the US artist John Singer Sargent and Swedish painter Anders Zorn. Her award allowed her to expand her archival research in Sweden and Denmark.

Svea Larsen

Svea Larsen, of Pacific University, conducted research that explores how the return of Swedish immigrants in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries influenced Swedish rural society. Her awarded funded and exhibition on the movement of immigrants between Sweden and the U.S.

Sophia Angelis

Sophia Angelis, of Harvard University, conducted comparative research on the role played by Norway’s prison architecture in creating humane environments that encourage rehabilitation. With her Roth Foundation award, she created an exhibition that illustrates alternatives to US prisons and supports discussion and research on the administration of justice in the United States.

Emily Olsen

Emily Olsen, of the Center for Disease Control, conducted timely research into anti-bullying programs with renown experts. She plans to earn her PhD from Finland’s University of Tampere.

Victor Lopez-Carmen

Victor Lopez-Carmen, of Ithaca College, received our 2018 award to extend his public health research in Australian Indigenous communities to the Lokono-Arawak Tribe in Barbados. Upon his return, he shared the knowledge that he acquired with his Arizona tribe and is working towards becoming a doctor, a public health official and an Indigenous rights advocate and leader of his tribe. One day, he hopes to run for Congress!

Tess McClure

Our 2018 award went to Tess McClure to help support her as she earns her Master’s degree at Columbia’s School of Journalism. An investigative journalist herself, she focused on human and labor rights in supply chains, a relatively new subject in investigative journalism.

Mark Taplin

Mark Taplin received the inaugural Lois Roth Emeritus Award, on August 6, 2018, for his career of service in cultural and educational diplomacy abroad and his tours as a principled and courageous policy leader in the ECA Bureau. Through his willingness to communicate openly with colleagues, flexibility and strategic planning, Mark guided the ECA through existential budget threats, proving that the Bureau’s spirit of innovation, productivity and commitment to excellence can survive, and even thrive, in times of great stress. Now retired, Mark is known among his former colleagues for his profound leadership, sense of humor, elegant writing and speaking and his deep-rooted belief in the power and criticality of international exchange.

Nicholas Stern

The eighth annual Fulbright Legacy Lectures were given by Lord Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics and the Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. He spoke at King’s College London on June 4, followed by Edinburgh University on June 6, and Pembroke College Oxford on June 8, 2018. The theme of his lectures was “The best of centuries or the worst of centuries? Leadership, governance and cohesion in an interdependent world.” He argued that the international economic order, which J. William Fulbright helped to build after WWII, served fairly well for much of the second half of the twentieth century. If we are to avoid the grave we currently face, however—including climate change, pandemics and conflict—it must be re-cast for our increasingly interdependent world. Our success in doing this will determine whether the twenty-first century becomes the best or worst of centuries.

Lord Stern’s lecture was live streamed and has now been published on the website of Pembroke’ College.

Tiffany Viggiano

Tiffany Viggiano (University of California at Riverside) used her grant to focus on disseminating her dissertation research on internationalization policies and global responsibility in higher education to colleagues, practitioners and policy-makers in Finland.

Earl Hodil

The 2018 award went to Earl Hodil (Yale) to help fund his research surrounding the complex political and commercial relationships between Denmark and Russia in the early 17th century, a topic that has been understudied in the current literature on the region. Earl plans to incorporate this research into a larger series of publishable works upon completing his PhD in History at Yale University.

*The Prix Coindreau Prize, The Jeanne Varnay Pleasants Prize for Language Teaching, and the CASVA-Henry & Judith Millon Award are currently inactive.

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