A Meeting of Two US Diplomats, from ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ Classes Sixty Years Apart
By Jordyn Birmingham ’24
Mariya Ilyas ’13, who began her first foreign service assignment in Jordan in 2019, sat down with Thomas Pickering ’53, a longtime diplomat and 1984 ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ honorand, to talk about their shared vocation.
Pickering, who helped found the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ Public Service Initiative to inspire students to public service, has been an ambassador to several nations during his forty years in the Foreign Service. Ilyas, who was a , is currently vice consul at the US Embassy in Amman, Jordan.
In their discussion, they cover Pickering'searly life and time at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾, his career in the US Foreign Service, and some of the global challenges facing the world today. "To many people, Ambassador Pickering is known as a five-star diplomat, but to me he has proved to be a mentor and a role model," Ilyas said.
Watch the , and read the complete transcript here.
