Mary Thompson-Jones, faculty member and the academic director of the Master of Science in Global Studies and International Affairs program, speaks at the Massachusetts State House during the event on May 22, 2014, that commemorates the 90th Anniversary of the U.S. Foreign Service and honors Commonwealth diplomats from 1776 to the present.
| Before Mary Thompson-Jones came to Northeastern to teach and direct the Global Studies and International Relationsprogram she lived and worked around the world as a career diplomat and foreign policy practitioner. She was asked to reflect on that experience in a speech this spring at the Massachusetts State House for an event honoring Commonwealth diplomats from 1776 to the present- from Boston-born Benjamin Franklin, Representative John Jacob Rogers (D-Lowell) author of the 1924 U.S. Foreign Service Act which established the U.S. Foreign Service, and many others, to current U.S. Secretary of State, John F. Kerry, represented by U.S. Department of State Special Representative Andrew O’Brien of Boston.The event, under the auspices of State Senator Eileen Donoghue(D-Lowell), commemorated the 90th Anniversary of the U.S. Foreign Service.Thompson-Jones spoke about the history of the Foreign Service, how it has changed over the years, and how the people who become Foreign Service officers tend to reflect the changes in society. She also addressed how the duties of foreign service officers have evolved and become more diverse, reflecting new expertise in science and technology, global warming and climate change, trade and commerce. |
Reprinted from the Northeastern University College of Professional Studies. Faculty Newsletter (July 2014).