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News & Events
Spring 2009
A Message from the Dean
One of GW's top priorities is to continue strengthening our broader academic community — including our accomplished alumni, enthusiastic parents, and dedicated supporters across the United States and around the world.
With this in mind, GW President Steven Knapp, Professor Skip Gnehm, and I just took an 11-day trip to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. We met with senior government officials, business leaders, university officers and scholars, journalists, alumni, and other regional leaders over the course of our visit.
Pres. Steven Knapp, Dean Michael E. Brown, and Skip Gnehm pose in front of of a captured Iraqi T-55 tank in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait.The tank was presented to Gnehm in 1991 when he was U.S. ambassador to Kuwait by the Tennessee Army National Guard and was driven to the Embassy a few days after Kuwait's liberation.
The high points of our trip included three GW community events — in Kuwait City, Riyadh, and Abu Dhabi. At each event, dozens of alumni, friends, and colleagues came together, making new connections among themselves and hearing President Knapp's report on the many exciting developments that are taking place at GW.
At Kuwait University and also at our GW community events in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, Skip Gnehm and I spoke on the Obama administration's foreign policy priorities and initiatives. Skip is one of the world's leading experts on U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, having served as U.S. ambassador to Kuwait and Jordan over his distinguished career, so his comments on regional issues were especially pertinent. These presentations provided a way for us to share the very special view from Washington that GW provides.
We appreciate that many members of our world-wide community cannot travel to Washington or to our alumni events, so we are posting video clips and transcripts of some Elliott School events on our website. I invite you to take a look and take advantage of these intellectual resources.
Please let us know if you have any suggestions for expanding and improving our alumni relations and outreach programs.
Michael E. Brown
Dean, Elliott School of International Affairs