Benjamin Franklin Awards for Public Diplomacy

My alma mater won an award! The U.S. Department of State has a new award for “outstanding leadership in advancing America’s ideals through public diplomacy by offering a positive vision of hope and opportunity rooted in America’s belief in freedom, justice, opportunity and respect for all.”  The Benjamin Franklin Awards for Public Diplomacy were given in several categories: Non-Profit (Search for Common Ground), Academic (USC, see below), Corporate (Johnson & Johnson), and Individual (Dave Brubeck, see Marc Lynch’s post on Brubeck here). 

Academic Category Award Winner: University of Southern California

Located in Los Angeles, the University of Southern California (USC) is one of the world’s leading private research universities. In August 2003, the University established the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School (CPD) as a partnership between the Annenberg School for Communication and the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’ School of International Relations. CPD is a joint research and professional training facility dedicated to furthering the study and practice of public diplomacy as it is practiced around the world. In 2005, USC created the first graduate-level teaching program in the world devoted exclusively to public diplomacy, and will graduate its first full Master of Public Diplomacy class in May 2008. We honor the University for its vision in developing the world’s premier research facility in the field of public diplomacy and for its excellence in educating the next generation of public diplomacy practitioners. Adam Clayton Powell, III, Vice Provost, Globalization, accepted the award on behalf of the University of Southern California.

Yes, they’ll graduate the “first full Master of Public Diplomacy class”, but two of us finished early… Adam, who had more than a hidden hand in creating the Center, picked up the award. 

GO TROJANS!