A Lasting Legacy, by Dr. Sherry Lee Mueller


On August 19 I had the privilege of attending the program entitled: Cultural and Public Diplomacy in a Changing World. The program, held at George Washington University thanks to the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication, was cosponsored by The Lois Roth Foundation and the Public Diplomacy Council of America (PDCA). It featured an in-person presentation by USC Professor Nicolas Cull and an online presentation by University of Melbourne Professor Peter Millwood, the winners of The Richard T. Arndt Prize. This biennial award was established by the Lois Roth Foundation and PDCA to honor an outstanding publication or work on cultural diplomacy. 


Each recipient underscored their admiration for the many contributions Richard Arndt has made to our field. Professor Cull commented that he was touched to receive this Prize because of his “deep affection and respect for Dick.” Professor Millwood noted that he was honored to receive an award named after Dick Arndt and that he also felt honored to receive it alongside Professor Cull.


In addition to the excellent opportunity to hear directly from these accomplished authors about their respective books, the event prompted lots of personal memories for me as well. Here are just a few:

-    Citing a seminal article by Lois Roth entitled: Public Diplomacy and the Past: The Search for an American Style of Propaganda, 1952–1977 when I was writing my doctoral dissertation;

-    Being hosted by Lois Roth and Dick Arndt for lunch in a lovely French restaurant in DC and marveling at the international career of this impressive woman. There were not that many women with flourishing international careers to admire back in the early 1980s. Lois was especially inspiring;

-    Hearing from Dick firsthand in 1987 about the Foundation he was establishing in Lois’s memory and to preserve her legacy; as well as discussing his article in The Fulbright Experience 1946-1986;

-    Assigning chapters of The First Resort of Kings, the comprehensive account of U.S. cultural diplomacy authored by Dick Arndt, to my graduate students at the AU School of International Service.

I am just one of so many around the world who have been informed, strengthened and encouraged by the work and examples of Lois Roth and Dick Arndt. I write this with gratitude to Skyler J. Arndt Briggs, Anne Barbaro, Deborah Cohn and Pauline Yang and other Foundation and PDCA colleagues for their leadership in continuing this legacy by establishing this Prize and amplifying the work of the Lois Roth Foundation.
 

Sherry Lee Mueller, Ph.D., is Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, School of International Service (SIS), American University, Washington, D.C., and former president of the Public Diplomacy Council and former co-president of PDCA. She earned her M.A.L.D. and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.