This fall, Ambassador Barks Ruggles has been just about everywhere at Dartmouth.
As our returning Obenshain Family Distinguished Visitor and Diplomat in Residence, she came to Hanover bringing with her thirty-three years of diplomatic service, from her time as Ambassador to Rwanda, Deputy to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and most recently leading the U.S. effort to rejoin UNESCO. She’s generously offered her insights and experience to students and faculty alike.
She taught ‘Diplomacy in a Complex World,’ a course in the International Studies Minor that asks students to work through the hardest problems on the international agenda, and she moderated three fascinating and wide-ranging conversation:
In September, she and journalist Dafna Linzer moderated ‘From State to Screen,’ a conversation with The Diplomat creator and show-runner Debora Cahn and former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal ‘91 on how government actually gets portrayed on screen (watch here).
At Dartmouth’s ‘AI at 70: What Must Remain Human?’ conference, she joined Sasha Baker ‘05, Head of National Security Policy at OpenAI, and James Patton Rogers of King’s College London as they explored “AI in International Security and Conflict.” (watch here).
Most recently, she moderated our Mary and Peter R. Dallman 1951 Great Issues Lecture that brought together four of the pivotal figures who helped build and chronicle PEPFAR: Dr. Rebecca Bunnell, Nils Daulaire, MD, John Donnelly, and Doris Macharia, MD. (watch here).
She also found time to spend a Friday night with our Great Issues Scholars at their fall retreat, led a session with our Global Health Fellows, and she taught an elective course, ‘The Lions of Africa: Where Are the Next Emerging Markets,’ at the Tuck School of Business, exploring opportunities, risks, and great power competition surrounding economic development and investments in sub-Saharan Africa.
All the while, she’s kept her door and heart open to students considering careers in diplomacy and public service. They’re fortunate to have her here at Dartmouth, and we are grateful for her time and dedication to the Dickey Center
(Photos: Eli Burakian & Kata Sasvari)
