On November 12, the Academy welcomed over 120 guests to its 30th Annual Awards Luncheon. This year, the Luncheon was co-hosted by the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador David Hale, and honored Ambassador John Negroponte, a “diplomat’s diplomat”, with the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Award for Excellence in Diplomacy. In his acceptance remarks, Ambassador Negroponte recounted past diplomatic accomplishments, gave due to numerous colleagues, and challenged the current administration to do better on the issues of US-China relations, environment, and trade. At the end, he issued a call to action to trust our diplomats with the responsibility of dealing with the new diplomatic challenges that lie ahead. “If we do,” he added, “I am confident they will continue to make the valuable contributions to our country’s well-being that they have made since the founding of the Republic.”

The Arthur Ross Media Award for a distinguished journalist was awarded to Matt Lee of the Associated Press, while Rana Foroohar of Financial Times received the Ross Award in the commentary category.

Ambassador Williams Burns received the Douglas Dillon Book Award for his memoir The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal. Although Ambassador Burns could not be present at the luncheon, he noted in his written remarks, read by Ambassador Thomas Pickering, that he was accepting the award

“in honor of our colleagues in the diplomatic arena, and in honor of all those serving the American people with dignity in these undignified times.”