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Graduates Recognized for Outstanding Work at SIPA
SIPA recognized 18 members of the Class of 2011 for their outstanding work and commitment to public service during the 2010 – 2011 academic year.
A workshop team comprising Nell Abernathy, Ehab Alkuttub, Sarah Bilson, Michael Harker, Thong Nguyen, Marin O’Brien, and Theodore Senasu was awarded the Dr. Susan Aurelia Gitelson Award for Human Values in International Affairs. The award recognizes a project that promotes a broad understanding of human rights and humanitarian action. The student team won for its project entitled “Kirkuk Provincial Reconstruction Team: Resolving a Disputed Iraqi Province.” 
Jordan Becker received the George C. Marshall Prize for Strategic Studies. It recognizes a graduating student for an outstanding paper addressing issues of defense policy, military strategy, arms control, intelligence, peacekeeping, negotiation, and alternatives to the use of force as an instrument of policy. Becker won for his paper entitled “Pillar or Pole? NATO, European Security and Defense Initiatives, and the Transatlantic Relationship.” Read Becker's paper "Pillar or Pole? NATO, European Security and Defense Initiatives, and the Transatlantic Relationship." 
A workshop team comprising Farah Abdulaziz Al-Sweel, Muneeb Ansari, Maheen Saleem Farooqi, Nicholas Hamilton, Meredith Hutchison, Rehan Jamil, Dana Kardoush, and José Vericat received the Leous/Parry Award for Progressive Sustainability. The team won for its project “Exploring the Interaction between Social Regulation and Legality in Informal Settlement Development in Cairo,” under the direction of Dr. Jacqueline Klopp. The award was created by two SIPA alumni, J.P. Leous and Neal Parry, to support interdisciplinary approaches to protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development.
Whitney Eulich received the Raphael Smith Memorial Prize for her article in SIPA News “Security Improved in Colombia but Union Workers Still at Risk.” The prize is in memory of the late Raphael Smith, a member of the class of 1994, who was on the staff of SLANT, the student-produced magazine about international affairs. Raphael took a leave of absence from SIPA to retrace his stepfather’s motorcycle journey across Europe and Asia 60 years earlier, writing newspaper articles. Raphael’s dream ended tragically in a fatal accident in Bulgaria. The prize is awarded annually to the graduating student who is judged to have written the best article published in SIPA News.
Wendy L. Carlson received the Harvey Picker Prize for Public Service, which recognizes graduating students who demonstrate exceptional commitment to public service.
Carlson was awarded for her ongoing volunteer work in Haiti and her work with the International Rescue Committee.
The Picker Prize honors former Dean Harvey Picker (1972 – 1983), who introduced the Master of Public Administration program.
Alex Burnett, updated May 16, 2011