Raising awareness and inspiring public diplomacy practices around the world
March 8, 2021
Dear Friend,
The Walter Roberts Endowment was established 14 years ago with generous contributions from Dr. Roberts and the Roberts family to educate students, recognize leadership, and disseminate best practices in public diplomacy.
Thanks to the generous support of donors like you, the endowment has assisted in funding activities of the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication (IPDGC) at the George Washington University (GWU). This past year, recognizing the challenge students have faced during the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Endowment funded summer internships for graduate and undergraduate students related to public diplomacy. We also are proud to have hosted…. As the speaker for our annual Walter Robert’s Lecture. Past speakers have included Joseph Nye, Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution, Ambassador Bruce Wharton (ret.), Ambassador Michael McFaul (ret.) of Stanford University, and many others.
The Endowment has also made possible awards to students in the School of Media and Public Affairs and the Elliott School of International Affairs. You can read more about the student awards here.
The Endowment funds IPDGC’s Award for Congressional Leadership in Public Diplomacy, which honors members of Congress who have been consistently supportive of public diplomacy throughout their careers. These awards support public diplomacy micro-projects in institutions situated in the member’s state or congressional district. This year’s recipient is Senator Boozman of Arkansas for his support of the Fulbright program. Past recipients have been Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Congresswoman Nita Lowey (New York). The Endowment also awarded small grants in the recipients’ names to the University of Tennessee Center for Sport, Peace, and Society, the Vermont Council on World Affairs, Battery Dance company (NYC), and Global Ties Arkansas.
Finally, we seek your assistance and support in our effort to increase the size of the Endowment to allow us to provide funded internships for undergraduate and graduate students, and grants to graduate students who could not otherwise afford to study public diplomacy at GWU.
We encourage you to join with the Roberts family in continuing to support the vital public diplomacy outreach work that the Endowment underwrites. Your support will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Dr. Patricia Kabra
Chair
Walter Roberts Endowment Advisory Committee