CFFS 2012 Review

 

Carolina Friends of the FS Hold Climate Change Talk

On Oct. 25, the Carolina Friends of the Foreign Service held their quarterly luncheon at the Chapel Hill Country Club, Chapel Hill, N.C. This year's theme, global energy, was addressed by Professor Francis Koster, who spoke on global climate change and its impact on geo politics. Fifty-five members and guests were in attendance. The CFFS is a social organization of 155 members of mostly retired U.S. government employees from the foreign affairs community, including State, the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency. the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Peace Corps. Also included are members from the U.S. international business sector living in North Carolina's research triangle area of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. Former diplomats in residence served in the same capacity and were responsible for the same portfolio for many of the schools in the Southeast. They all had offices at both Duke University and the University of North Carolina at North Carolina diplomats-in-residence attend the October luncheon of the Carolina Friends of the Foreign Service held at the Chapel Hill Country Club in Chapel Hill, N.C. Pictured (left to right) are former DIR Bill Lucas, Amb. Brenda Schoonover. Amb. David Lilt and current DIR, Julie Ruterbories. Chapel Hill. Ms. Julie Ruterbories also has offices at Duke and Carolina and travels to schools in several Southern states. Ms. Ruterbories will be presenting the next talk to the members of the Carolina Friends of the Foreign Service at the University Club at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday, Jan. 18. Her topic will focus on how The Netherlands is preparing to meet the challenges of the expected rise in sea levels. Ruterbories' last assignment was as the U.S. consul general in Amsterdam. To contact Julie, her e-mail address is ruterboriesja@state.gov.

Upcoming CFFS Events

The next Carolina Friends of the Foreign Service Luncheon will be held Thursday, April 26, 2012.  The speaker will be Professor of Geological Science Jose Rial.  Professor Rial will talk on the effects of global climate change and about his field of studies in the Arctic Circle.  Additional information regarding venue will be forthcoming.

The CFFS annual summer potluck will be held Saturday, June 2nd at the home of Debbi Schwartz.  Additional information regarding the potluck will be provided at a later date. 

January Carolina Friends of the Foreign Service Luncheon

Speaker Ambassador Ed Brynn with CFFS Members Shirley and Arvin Kramish

 

The Carolina Friends of the Foreign Service's first luncheon of the year was held on January 26th at Captain John's Dockside Restaurant in Chapel Hill.  Ambassador Ed Brynn, outgoing Foreign Affairs Historian at the Department of State and longtime member of the CFFS, spoke about the Foreign Relations of the United States Series (FRUS).  The FRUS are the definitive documentary compilations of the United States' relations with other countries.  The documents have been published since President Abraham Lincoln signed the mandate in 1861, and 2011 therefore marked the 150th anniversary of the FRUS.  Ambassador Brynn told attendees that the State Department's historians are currently working on compiling documents from the presidency of Ronald Reagan.  (The Office of the Historian is required by Congress to work on a period of foreign relations 25 years earlier than the current year, as it is assumed that all relevant information is available at that point and information from formerly classified materials for the most part has been declassified.)