Reves Center to host fifth annual Global Forum
(Williamsburg, Va.) – The Wendy & Emery Reves Center for International Studies at the College of William and Mary will host a Global Forum Nov. 9, 2008 at the Williamsburg Lodge. The featured speaker will be Ambassador (ret.) Thomas R. Pickering who will address "The Next President: Foreign Policy Challenges and Opportunities." The evening includes a reception and dinner and will begin at 6:30 p.m. It is sponsored by the Friends of the Emery and Wendy Reves Center for International Studies. Tickets are $125 each ($55 is tax deductible) and are available through the Reves Center at (757) 221-3592. The forum is a fundraising event with all proceeds supporting scholarships for William and Mary students studying abroad. The reservation deadline is Oct. 29.
Pickering holds the personal rank of career ambassador, the highest in the U.S. Foreign Service. In a diplomatic career spanning five decades, he was U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He also served as ambassador and representative to the United Nations in New York, executive secretary of the Department of State and as special assistant to Secretaries William P. Rogers and Henry A. Kissinger. Pickering is currently vice chairman at Hills and Company, which provides advice and counsel to a number of major U.S. enterprises.
Pickering received a bachelor's degree, cum laude, with high honors in history, from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He also holds a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Pickering was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Melbourne in Australia, where he received a second master's degree. In 1984, he was awarded an honorary doctor-in-laws degree from Bowdoin College, and has received similar honors from 12 other universities.
In 1983 and in 1986, Pickering won the Distinguished Presidential Award and, in 1996, the Department of State’s highest award – the Distinguished Service Award. He is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations. He speaks French, Spanish and Swahili and has some fluency in Arabic, Hebrew and Russian.
The Reves Center for International Studies helps nearly 700 William and Mary students study abroad each year, and also serves more than 300 international students and scholars from 54 countries. In addition, Reves supports internationally focused research and teaching initiatives as well as programs of interest to the broader public.
For further information please call (757) 221-3592.
