SIS Names Faculty, Alumna of the Year at Pakistan Embassy
ALUMNI NEWS
Have you moved or changed jobs?
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GETTING TO KNOW YOU NATHAN SLUSHER
Title: Director of
Academic and
Career Advising
Dean James Goldgeier and Professor Rachel Sullivan Robinson at the Embassy of Pakistan with Ambassador Sherry Rehman.
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.
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.
Read more.
GETTING INK
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Are Drones Winning the War on Terror?
Professor Kristin Smith Diwan:
Interviewed in "Kuwait Gives 5-Year
Term to Dissenter," The New York
Times, April 15.
Read more.
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:
Dean James Goldgeier speaks as (from l to r) Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies Ambassador Akbar Ahmed; Colonel Lawrence
Wilkerson, chief of staff for former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Representative Dennis Kucinich and Professor Randolph Persaud
look on.
How America's War on Terror Became
a Global War on Tribal Islam at
Washington National Cathedral at 1
p.m. today, April 23.
Read more.
Should drones be the U.S. military weapons of choice for the war on terrorism?
EVENTS
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.
As part of the series
of AU events
commemorating the
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.
50th anniversary of
President John F.
Kennedy's
Read more.
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.
Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
on Thursday, April 25 at 3:30 p.m. in
Dean Emeritus Louis Goodman, was strengthening SIS.
the SIS Abramson Family Founders
Room. The event is free and open to
the public; please RSVP here.
"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
Read more.
One of Olson's greatest achievements, according to
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."
Read more.
University Chaplain Joe Eldridge spoke at Dean William
Olson's memorial service on April 10.
Photo of the Week
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-inchief 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.
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Alumni News
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
commencement
address, Dean James Goldgeier will
host a Dean's Discussion with Thomas
Schelling, recipient of the 2005 Nobel
CONNECT WITH SIS
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).
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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.
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Getting Ink
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.
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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.
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, PetroAggression: 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 SkalliHanna; 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.
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Events
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, firstserve 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.
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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.
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