Frank Loy, chairman of the Arthur Burns Fellowships and former Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, recently won the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. The award was presented by German President Christian Wulff on Nov. 2, 2010, at the German Ambassador’s residence in Washington, DC. The Order of Merit is awarded to Germans as well as foreigners for achievements in the political, economic, social or intellectual realm and for outstanding services to the nation in the field of social, charitable or philanthropic work.
For the past six weeks, I have worked as the bureau photographer for The New York Times in Baghdad. This was my first visit to Iraq, and although I have worked in Afghanistan, Gaza and Yemen, I have found Iraq to be among the most difficult places to do my job. The fear is what makes working here difficult.
During Frederik Pleitgen's business visit to Iraq, he was faced with daily unpredictable obstacles that hampered the effectiveness of his reporting. The country's economic development is moving, but there are many still many social and political issues surrounding the Iraqi populace. The next weeks will be telling as the political powers attempt to form a government. And we must remember that more than 90,000 U.S. troops are still on the ground here, seemingly on their way out, but not home yet.
More than 150 Burns alumni, board members and guests gathered in Berlin on an unseasonably chilly June evening to hear from two Central European foreign ministers on topics as varied as transatlantic relations and the future of foreign correspondents.
Sarah Wildman (Burns 2008) won the Peter R. Weitz Prize for excellence and originality in reporting on Europe for a series she wrote for Slate. She conducted research for the series during her Burns fellowship. The $10,000 prize is awarded by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and will be presented at an awards luncheon in July in Washington, D.C.
In January, a month after the world climate summit in Denmark, a diverse group of nearly 50 journalists, experts and entrepreneurs traveled to Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen to discuss climate change, energy and their global economic impact. Most of them were alumni of transatlantic exchange programs like those sponsored by the Bosch Foundation, the Rias Berlin Commission, the German Marshall Fund and Fulbright Commission. Four were Burns alumni.
A crowd of about 100 alumni, trustees, staff and friends gathered for the annual Arthur F. Burns Fellowship alumni dinner at the Ritz Carlton in New York on February 23. They battled a fierce rainstorm to hear keynote speaker E. Gerald Corrigan, a managing director of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and chairman of the firm’s regulated bank subsidiary.
Anthony Ganzer recalls his experience in Oslo as a guest journalist through a Robert Bosch Stiftung fellowship, and provides his own story after witnessing President Barack Obama's acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. Ganzer was also tasked with explaining to locals why Obama deserved such a prestigious award. He notes that, while engaged in wars at home, Obama used his speech to justify the use of force in the pursuit of peace.
Washington, DC - Nineteen select young journalists from the United States and Germany will spend the summer working as foreign correspondents on either side of the Atlantic as 2009 Arthur F. Burns Fellows. This is the 20th year for U.S. journalists to report in Germany under this program.
The 2009 German Burns Award winner looks at resistance by stressed U.S. homeowners facing eviction, while the Kennan Commentary Award winner looks at the changed meaning and interpretation of German “angst.”
