| Susan C. Schwab Class of 1976 |
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Growing up in a foreign service family in Africa, Europe, and Asia, you learned to ride horses with the Tunisian Cavalry and adopted a pet mongoose in Sierra Leone. These early experiences, along with your major in political economics, your facility with French and Japanese, and your further study at Stanford and The George Washington University, led to a remarkable career in international public policy. You began as an agricultural trade negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and continued as a Trade Policy Officer in the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. While an aide to Senator John Danforth, you played a major role in landmark trade legislation passed in the 1980s. As Assistant Secretary of Commerce, you oversaw twelve hundred employees in almost two hundred foreign and domestic offices. After a stint as Director of Corporate Business Development for Motorola, you served as Dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and then as President of the University System of Maryland Foundation. You returned to government service as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, overseeing trade relations with Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, and the Americas and in 2006 reached the top of this field, in the Cabinet-level position of U.S. Trade Representative, serving as the President's principal advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on trade. The recent expansion of global commerce makes it more important than ever to have such a thoughtful, dedicated professional play such a key role. In recognition of your distinguished achievement in public policy, Williams College is proud to honor you with its Bicentennial Medal. |
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