The Walter Roberts Endowment, through IPDGC, has consistently supported and recognized GWU students of public diplomacy.
Since 2011, the Walter Robert Endowment (WRE) has given an award to a second-year GWU Elliott School graduate student who has shown academic excellence in public diplomacy studies.
The student will be recognized at the Commencement Ceremony for the GW Elliott School of International Affairs and will receive a cash prize.
Eligibility
Applicants for the award must be enrolled as full-time second-year students at the Elliott School of International Affairs. They are also asked to provide:
- A resume
- A 500-word essay on their goals for pursuing further studies or careers based on their PD courses
- A one-paragraph letter of support from a professor
Dates for submissions are announced in early spring of each academic year.
Past Recipients of this Award
- 2025: Gabby Stall, Mohammad Fayaz Yourish, Rehana Paul, and Yuchen Lee
- 2024: Matthew Snow
- 2023: Sherilyn Harrington and Brandon Bell
- 2022: Nikki Hinshaw
- 2021: Halea Kerr-Layton and Saiansha Panangipalli
- 2020: Chaniqua D. Nelson
- 2018: Laura Brendle and Riker Pasterkiewicz
- 2017: Alison Bartel
- 2016: John Melville
- 2015: Iris Froeba
- 2014: Marisa Maldonado
- 2013: Kimberly Morton
- 2012: Lisa Barton
- First Recipient of the Walter Roberts Student Award: Akash Suri
The Global Communication program at GW was instrumental in equipping me with the context necessary to be a successful public diplomacy practitioner in the Foreign Service. The research I conducted there on the framing powers of media, the use of online engagement tools in public diplomacy, and a host of other topics has helped me to make substantive contributions to embassy outreach strategy during diplomatic tours in India and Japan, and will serve me well through the rest of my career. The Walter R. Roberts Award itself not only supported my study at GWU but also encouraged me to pursue a public diplomacy and public service career path.
Akash Suri
Foreign Service Officer with U.S. State Department, MA Global Communications ’11, and recipient of the first Walter R. Roberts Award for Diplomatic Studies