Iris Krasnow is a Renaissance woman. Best selling author, speaker, wife and mother of four sons – not to mention an American University journalism professor. She is now working with Lifetime television to produce a pilot inspired by her fifth book, The Secret Lives of Wives: Women Share What It Really Takes To Stay Married. Based on 200 interviews with longtime wives and two years of marriage research, her book portrays solutions and strategies for women on how to stay committed for the long haul.

The Lifetime pilot has attracted some star power. Salli Richardson (Criminal Minds, Eureka), Kim Raver (Grey's Anatomy), Amber Clayton (Three Rivers) and Lauren Bittner (Paranormal Activity 3) have signed on to lead in the Lifetime series cast. Krasnow is just back from the filming of the pilot in Austin, Texas where she reports "these Hollywood stars are real people with lots of amazing talent."

Krasnow is also the moderator of the new AU SPExs program, American Women: Conversations with AU's Inspirational Women, which showcases accomplished AU women and their stories of success. Monday, Nov. 5, Caleen Jennings, a professor in AU’s Department of Performing Arts, will stage a full on performance at Katzen using AU actors depicting the power and history and social activism of Black Theatre in America! And the following week, SPExs hosts University Professor and Center for Social Media Director Pat Aufderheide; SOC Executive-in-Residence Dotty Lynch is a featured guest in early December.

Since beginning her career more than three decades ago, Krasnow has been a pioneer in the world of journalism. She got her start in her hometown writing for the Chicago Tribune then became the fashion writer for the Dallas Times Herald. She moved to Washington in the 1980s to join United Press International as their national feature writer. This led to a successful string of books, titles you can find on iriskrasnow.com such as I Am My Mother's Daughter and the New York Times-bestseller Surrendering to Marriage

Her success as a best-selling author is often attributed to her unadulterated exploration of women's lives, as she chronicles - and experiences - marriage, motherhood and the challenges of family relationships. She has published five books and is working on her sixth, this one on aging and sexuality to be published by Penguin. Being a guest on Oprah twice has also helped her launch.

"Some might argue that print journalism is a dying art," said Krasnow, who became a full-time professor directing Washington Journalism Semester in 1994. "I say it's a changing art. My students still get very excited about seeing their names in print. It is very much alive and I am a living testament."

Krasnow attributes her success to hard work and passion, something she drills into her students. She has also taught the SOC course Feature Article Writing for many years.

"Where there is passion, there is persistence. And if you work hard at something you love, over the course of many years, success is sure to follow. At the beginning of each semester I tell my students: "The most important thing you can do in college is to find something you are passionate about.

"My father's favorite saying was ' the harder you work the luckier you will get'." And I am sure he was right.

Krasnow says she "wants to grow old at AU", her home for many years, and a place where she says gave her the inspiration and freedom to launch a career as an author, and now a TV producer, and to teach "hundreds and hundreds of warm and wise students".  Her son Jackson starts as an AU Freshman next year.

"I have a lot more books in me," said Krasnow."And as American University grows in different directions, it is exciting to flex and grow as a professor."

American University has named Carola Weil, a veteran administrator in higher education, not-for-profit, and international settings, to be the inaugural dean of its School of Professional and Extended Studies (SPExS), formerly the Washington Professional Development program.  

Weil is currently director for international and strategic partnerships for the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism’s East Coast office in Washington, D.C. where she leads the development of collaborative, applied research, and public service projects with partners in the academic, non-profit, government, international, military, and private sectors.

She will serve as dean designate beginning August 15 and will assume the position of dean on September 17, 2012.

“Dr. Weil’s view of life-long learning as a key means to educational access and as an essential link between academic, business, government, and non-governmental sectors in both driving innovation and providing greater equality of access to opportunities in society will be instrumental in the continued enhancement and development of the programs within the school,” said Provost Scott Bass in announcing the appointment.

“To remain relevant and a core pillar of human progress and society, higher education must reach out to new audiences and embrace innovative learning and teaching methods that are relevant to practitioners but also uphold tried and true principles of intellectual rigor,” said Weil. “I am excited to be part of an organization as deeply committed to cutting edge, state-of-the art liberal arts education for the 21st century and beyond as the American University.”

During her career at USC’s Annenberg School, Weil has held multiple positions and developed new programs. She helped launch the school’s first online MA in Communication Management, assisted in the development of a new innovation and design laboratory, and helped establish several interdisciplinary programs in fields such as economic literacy, sports media, and entrepreneurship. In addition, Weil served as assistant dean and later associate dean for Planning and Strategic Initiatives.

The Washington Professional Development program combined Washington Semester, the oldest experiential learning program in the country, Washington Internships for Native Students, Washington Graduate Gateway, Washington Mentorship and International Gateway programs. In March, these combined programs became the newly named School of Professional and Extended Studies—AU’s first new school since 1984 when the Department of Communication in the College of Arts & Sciences became the School of Communication.  

Before joining University of Southern California, Weil held appointments at the United States Institute of Peace, George Washington University, the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Belfer Center, the University of Maryland College Park Center for International Development and Conflict Management, Women in International Security, and the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation. She holds an AB in History from Bryn Mawr College, and a MPM, MA and PhD in Political Science from University of Maryland College Park.

AU’s Washington Development Program will be renamed the School of Professional and Extended Studies on March 1, according to the Feb. 17 memo from Provost Scott Bass.

Phyllis Peres, senior vice provost and dean of academic affairs, said the school is also being reorganized to acknowledge the presence of non-matriculation undergraduate programs like Washington Semester.

While the school’s name will change, the individual names of its programs will not.

“These program names are a valuable asset to the University,” Vice Provost for Academic Administration Violeta Ettle said. “The Washington Semester Program is now in its 65th year of existence and is the premier experiential learning program in the country.”

Ettle said the change in name would better reflect the program’s existing and new sub-programs and help recruit new students. Washington Development Programs currently includes:

• Washington Semester Program
• Washington Semester International Certificate Program
• Washington Graduate Gateway
• Washington Internship for Native Students
• Washington Mentorship Program

A new English Language Transition Program will be included in the School of Professional and Extended Studies. Ettle said the program is “an academic bridge curriculum for international students who have been conditionally admitted to AU.” The program is scheduled to launch in spring 2013.

Ettle said she does not expect any problems implementing the new name.

“Implementing such a change is not a ‘turnkey’ operation,” Ettle said. “For example, we need to create a new website for the School, change the links with the old name, design new stationery, change our marketing materials, business cards, program brochures, etc.”

Members of the school’s staff have already begun to develop these new materials, which they expect to be finished in two or three months, Ettle said. The website will require more than a few months to complete.

A search committee has been formed to find the new dean of the School of Professional and Extended Studies. School of Public Affairs Dean William LeoGrande will chair the committee.

AU’s Washington Internship for Native Students (WINS) will be honored at the National Congress of American Indians’ (NCAI) 14th annual leadership awards, March 6, in Washington, D.C. WINS will be recognized for its efforts to shape the next generation of Native leaders.

Other honorees include Congressman Don Young (R–Ark.); Larry Echohawk, assistant secretary for Indian affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior; and Eddie Brown, professor and director of American Indian studies, Arizona State University.

The WINS program is a “[champion] for tribal sovereignty in extremely challenging times,” said NCAI president Jefferson Keel.

“The leadership of the WINS program in equipping Native students to succeed in the government, private, and civic sectors has helped build the foundation for a successful nation-to-nation relationship for generations to come.”

Part of Washington Professional Development (formerly Washington Semester), WINS was founded in 1994. The program draws about 100 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian (AI/AN/NH) students to Washington each year. Participants intern at private firms and government agencies like the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency, while taking courses that center on Native American policy issues.

Under the direction of Jack Soto, himself a WINS alumnus and graduate of AU’s School of Public Affairs, the program is sponsored by the university and the government agencies that provide the internships.

Way of Life

Nail biting. Cold sweats. Trembling number two pencils.

Academic Support Center counselor Deborah DeMille-Wagman knows the symptoms exam season often brings. After seven years in the Center, she has plenty of tips to help quell the rising stress that many students experience during this time of year.

The preparation starts with what DeMille-Wagman calls the “groundwork.”

“I think of [an exam] not as a separate exercise but something you’ve been doing all semester,” she explains. “I like to start with what I call ‘self-management skills’ which create the foundation going into finals or anything in life.”

These skills include living a healthy lifestyle – eating well, getting enough sleep, exercising, self-care, and managing stress – as well as keeping in mind goals and how these exams fit in with those personal and professional goals. DeMille-Wagman also stresses the ability to create action instead of waiting for motivation to start something like a paper or review session.

“I think that action often creates motivation,” she says. “Think about physics. You get something in motion, it’s easier to keep in motion as opposed to the energy needed to start it into motion. So if you feel totally overwhelmed, like we all do sometimes, just think about one small thing you can do, and doing that will lead you to do other things as well.”

Exam Prep

Once these life skills are in the bag, it’s time to think specifically about the exam.

DeMille-Wagman emphasizes knowing exactly what the test will cover.

“You’re preparing to do battle,” she explains. “The more you know about what you’re up against, the better shape you can be in.”

 This includes knowing what the semester has emphasized subject-wise and even knowing what kind of grade needs to be achieved to positively impact a course grade. Another important thing to know is how to avoid cramming – a type of studying that has no longer-term benefit.

“When you cram something into your brain, you may be able to retrieve it for a short period of time, but you don’t really know it. You haven’t had time to process it,” DeMille-Wagman shares. “Rather than doing these massive study sessions, breaking studying into shorter periods and taking breaks really helps your brain have time to process the information. You’re able to stay on task, and you don’t get fatigued as easily.”

The Academic Support Center offers a number of resources to help students prepare throughout the semester. From tutoring and supplemental instruction for certain class sections to individual study skills meetings with counselors, students can make appointments for all types of support. For essay and composition aid, the Center staffs the Writing Lab, while the College of Arts and Sciences coordinates its own Writing Center through the Literature department.

Passing the Test

The classroom door shuts. The professor distributes the exam and starts the clock. Now what?

“Keep track of your time,” DeMille-Wagman says. “Look at the weight of the questions. How much is each section worth? Portion your time appropriately. If you have a complex essay, outline it with bullet points. If you haven’t finished writing the entire essay, put in the remaining bullet points. It’s not a bad thing to do.”

A tough question can send anyone reeling, casting doubt on an entire exam. When encountering a question that can elicit a cold sweat, DeMille-Wagman knows what to do.

“If you’re starting to panic, look through the test for an easier question to answer because it will get the gears of your brain going,” she explains.

After the pencils are put down and the papers handed in, most students breathe a bit easier. DeMille-Wagman believes that breathing easily throughout the entire semester is the key to a successful exam season and – in the end – overall college experience.

“Enjoy the process,” she says. “Think about why you’re here. This is your chance, your one time in your life when you’re an undergraduate student. Enjoy being here and don’t just think of it as a chore. Embrace the learning experience and the opportunity you have here [at AU]. Life is all about process and more than just arriving at goals.”

The Secret Lives of Wives is a window into the common relationship ailments that can kill a marriage. The latest from best-selling author and AU professor Iris Krasnow moreover reveals the secret passions that help many women stick it out, through sickness and health, boredom and frustration, and well into silver and golden anniversaries.

“This is how you stay married. You fill yourself,” Krasnow revealed.

After over 200 interviews with women winding through the second and third decades of marriage, Krasnow taps into a running theme that gives women a chance for happy lives within even the most ordinary or mediocre marriages — and as she divulges their secrets, Krasnow and her book are gaining wide-ranging media attention. From appearances on the Today Show, CBS Early Show and an upcoming segment on Weekend Today, to a radio interview on the Gayle King Show, to Secret Lives being named one of “10 Books You Must Read” by O magazine and excerpted in Ladies’ Home Journal, Krasnow’s secret is out.

“It’s not all candlelight dinners,” said Krasnow. “It’s a partnership.”

Krasnow is a staunch proponent of marriage. Unless a woman finds herself in an emotionally absent or abusive marriage, Krasnow believes, it is worth it to stay. Divorce is costly, both emotionally and financially, for an entire family. Imagine taking turns attending grandchildren’s birthday parties because you don’t want to run into your ex and his twenty-something “bimbo” wife. On the other hand, marriage is tough, and as women stay, it can become tedious.

“But I don’t meet a lot of people who unravel a 30-year marriage and find bliss. Maybe they’re out there, but I haven’t met them.” She added, “The grass is not greener on the other side. You’re trading one set of troubles for another.”

Having spent two years researching how real women make long-lasting marriages work, she found that seeking that greener grass — that thrill through a departure from marriage — was unnecessary, so long as veteran wives found ways to fulfill themselves, independently as women, not just wives and mothers.

Their techniques ranged from taking separate vacations, rediscovering childhood interests or kindling new ones, to one 68-year-old St. Louis woman who steals time in the backseat of her college boyfriend’s car for “petting sessions,” never entirely consummating the affair. She has no plans to end her forty-five year marriage.

Krasnow’s book is one without moral prescription; it’s a journalistic effort. Her assessment: staking claim to space for themselves is what kept these women’s marriages together. “Death in a marriage is when the partners stop growing.”

A Useful Secret for the Me Generation

Krasnow’s book is a study of boomer women. Like all five of her books, the central thread evolved from Krasnow’s own life experience. “What I am living, my challenges, my jobs, my struggles, are what a lot of women are living.”

She is part of a generation that came of age in the ’60s, when traditional norms and dictums cracked open. Divorce was no longer the D-Word. Swinging and open marriages were accepted in some circles. At the same time that it became common to admit, “I want to be me. I want to find myself,” divorce rocked half of all U.S. marriages.

More recently, the American divorce rate has dropped to 43 percent. People are marrying later. Interestingly, according to a Time/Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans under 30 believe marriage is heading for extinction, but 95 percent of that same age group still says they want to get married some day.

Pairing her journalistic research with time on the faculty of American University, Krasnow has found through interviews with boomers that “the reality of divorce has been very startling for this generation.” At the same time, she learns in her students’ writing, that for many, the most life-defining moment they’ve experienced is their parents’ later life divorce. Students often write how their parents got divorced once the nest was empty, and how, as young adults beginning the phase of their lives when they are looking for a life partner, they feel the emotional damage is somehow worse than if the divorce had happened in their early childhoods.

Relationship WONK

AU has been fertile ground for Krasnow’s work. “This university has been my incubator and my support system to create. All these books have been written right here, while I’ve worked here.” Having begun her career as writer for United Press International, Krasnow models to her students what it means to be a working journalist. It means being a good listener, getting out into the field. She shares lessons as she interviews, compiles, writes, and promotes her work. “I try to be a vein-throbbing example every day that journalism is not dying.”

Krasnow is a journalist with an expertise in relationships, from her first book, Surrendering to Motherhood, to Secret Lives, she’s been an observer of the human condition. “I happen to write about things we all have in common.”

Krasnow sees the relevance of her study everywhere. “If you’re Mick Jagger or Barack Obama, or the cab driver you see on the street in Adams Morgan, or the person who collects your garbage, at the heart of all of us, it’s the great equalizer — human relationships.”

Krasnow sees light ahead for boomer women. “Maybe we’ve learned over decades that there’s something nice about coming home to the same schlumpy person and going to your grandchildren’s birthday parties together.” The secret is ensuring for your own happiness along the way.

Iris Krasnow will speak about her book at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., on Wednesday, October 12, at 7 p.m.

Dean David Brown, who is retiring after 40 years at the Washington Semester Program, actually started his association with American University 50 years ago when his father drove him to visit the campus in November 1961.

AU’s School of International Service was perfect for a kid from suburban New Jersey whose interest in foreign affairs started during junior high school collecting stamps from all over the world. By the time he came to AU, the student body president from Caldwell, New Jersey — birthplace of Grover Cleveland — was enamored of all things Washington, a place neither he nor his father had ever been.

“Sixty-six of us got our BAs in 1966, which is a far cry from the number who [graduate from SIS now],” Brown said.

While a student at AU his interest in Latin American politics took him to Colombia, where he spent two months in Bogata and traveled around the country with a Peace Corps volunteer. But classes in what would later become the School of Public Affairs gave him the connection that brought him back years later as a faculty member and then administrator.

A shot-in-the-dark letter to a former political science professor — one of 90 inquiries he sent after getting his PhD —led Brown to an interview and eventual job offer at AU.

Ramping up the Program
Brown leaves behind a successful program that holds fond memories for a host of Washington Semester alumni in the professions, politics, and academia. His openness and affability, his informal style and approachability, were all noted in pages of tributes from former students and current member school directors at a recent organizational meeting.

Brown has also earned the loyalty and respect of his staff. As Associate Dean Christian Maisch, Brown’s longtime colleague, noted, “Teaching in this program and working with Dean Brown has been not just a great job. It has been a great joy.”

The program has grown significantly since Brown joined AU’s faculty after earning his PhD in political science — he had switched from international relations by then — from Rutgers University. In those days, the Washington Semester was an exclusive program run by an aristocratic Bostonian who wanted to keep the club small. But just a couple years after joining the School of Government and Public Administration, as the School of Public Affairs was then known, Brown was offered a chance to run the program he taught in.

He said yes — but he wanted to ramp it up. Soon the Washington Semester would outgrow its home at SPA as Brown expanded its offerings.

“Under Dean Brown’s tenure, the Washington Semester Program grew from a small program into one of the nation’s largest academic experiential learning programs of its kind,” said Provost Scott Bass. “When he began in fall 1973, the program had slightly over 100 college and university affiliations and 151 students. Currently, the Washington Semester Program has inter-institutional affiliations with over 235 national and international colleges and universities. In fall 2009, it enrolled over 500 students in the Washington Semester Program and in the Washington Mentorship, Washington Internships for Native Students, and Graduate Gateway Programs, all programs initiated under Dean Brown’s leadership.”

Noting Brown’s help in designing the Tenley campus, Bass also pointed out his work in 1982 in developing AU’s study abroad program.

“He subsequently took the Washington Semester model of seminars with decision makers and student internships, and created the World Capitals Program at the university,” Bass said. “This program generated 14 unique semester study programs on five continents beyond North America and, for his work, AU Abroad stands as its legacy.”

Facing Challenges
Innovations such as recruiting international students have strengthened the program in a tough economy. And these days everyone faces more competition from other Washington and study abroad programs.

The program has faced challenges before, perhaps most notably in December 1994. That’s when a fire destroyed the Dunblane building on the Tenley campus, home of many of the program’s offices and classrooms. The building was unoccupied at the time and there were no injuries.

“That was tragic,” Brown said of the fire. “The whole office was gone, everything. My library, all my international mementos, my PhD dissertation went up in flames.”

Initially, faulty wiring was blamed for the fire. But investigators soon determined that the cause was arson, although no one was ever charged.

Dunblane was later rebuilt.

The Next Stage
Although he is retiring as dean, Brown will stay on part time next year at the request of his successor, Donna Fish, dean of Washington Professional Development. After a month off in June during which he and Janet, his wife of 42 years, will travel to Sedona, Arizona, he’ll once again make the commute from his home in Olney, Maryland, to the Tenley campus.

Fish is delighted he agreed to continue working in a new role.

“I had known of Dave’s work and reputation as the creative genius behind the Washington Semester and its ancillary programs for many years before I joined the AU community and Washington Professional Development,” she said. “He is respected — even cherished — by our affiliate institutions and alumni. I look forward to working with Dave to broaden our recruitment efforts, develop an alumni relations program, and leverage the rich relationships he has built around the world.”

As Brown prepares for the next stage in his life, he leaves the top job at Washington Semester with no regrets. In fact, he’s sure he had the best job at AU.

“No other job at the university gives an individual a chance to conceptualize, to create, to market, to implement, and to manage new programs,” he said. “To have that satisfaction over and over and over again with different programs, to see them come to fruition and be successful and then to read student evaluations and they’re happy with what they get here, that’s extremely satisfying.”

 Television newscasts can co-exist – and thrive – in the Internet age if the networks use the Internet’s resources to create a compelling newscast, Diane Sawyer, ABC World News anchor, told more than 25 Washington Semester journalism students at the National Press Club.

     “I don’t see it as a competition with the Internet,” Sawyer said in a one-on-one interview with TV legend Marvin Kalb. “We have to be out there creating a unique and important conversation, answering questions in unique and important ways so that you want to come to us.”

    The students were part of a capacity crowd at the Washington journalism landmark in an event co-sponsored by the Press Club and George Washington University’s Global Media Institute.
     
Sawyer said the Internet with its social media is creating new opportunities for broadcast news reporters to understand what viewers want. Instead of being a threat to broadcast news, the new technology should be considered an asset, she said.

     “I cannot tell you how often we hear from Facebook or something coming in on World News tweets a question that you say, ‘of course that’s a question, of course that’s what everyone wants to know,’” she said. “The giant cacophony, the giant democracy, the giant chorus that is the country can sometimes just reach right through to you at the moment you need it the most.”

    The impact on social media in shaping world events now is amazing, she said.

     “It is impossible not to see and be stunned by the immediate pilot light of hope that goes on when people are hearing from people who are connected to them and will stay online with them,” she said. “It is a whole new force in the world.”

      But it also raises questions of journalism ethics as journalists must struggle with verifying what they are hearing through social media and YouTube.

     “We always tell you where we got it,” she said of video the network airs.  “Our viewers do know the different frames of pedigree on footage like that.”
     
But is that enough, Kalb asked? Don’t journalists have an obligation to make sure what they are showing is accurate, not to trust that viewers will be discerning?

    “We do call and do our best to verify everything we are putting on the air,” Sawyer said. “There have been many things that might have been electrifying television that we do not put on the air because we cannot verify it.”

     Listening to – and talking with – leading journalists is a daily routine for Washington Semester journalism students.  In the course of one term, the class offers more than 30 opportunities for small-group discussions with journalists who are shaping new forms of news delivery.

Eighty-one percent of AU’s 2009 undergraduate class completed one internship, many completed more. That number landed American University the third place spot in the nation for undergraduate internships, according to a new survey by U.S. News and World Report.

The national average for undergraduate internships is 36.8 percent.

While most AU students intern locally — at institutions like the World Bank, National Institutes of Health, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Smithsonian Institution — a global network of opportunities sends interns to the Associated Press in Thailand, Global Conscience Initiative in Cameroon, and more.

A semester on the Hill, at an investment bank, or in a newsroom is a hot ticket that for some students like Jheanelle Wilkins can lead to a job offer.

Wilkins, a McNair Scholar from the University of Delaware, spent fall 2008 at AU’s Washington Semester, the country’s oldest and largest experiential learning program. For 16 weeks, Washington was the sociology major’s learning lab.

A student in Professor Diane Lowenthal’s American Government and Politics seminar, Wilkins toured the Supreme Court and the U.S. Capitol. She interned at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, making such a splash as a writer, organizer, and activist that she was hired upon graduation.

“That semester in D.C. helped me to realize my passion,” recalled Wilkins, 22. “I was going to hearings on the Hill, attending rallies, doing research. I felt like I was making a difference every day.

“As soon as I left D.C., I knew I needed to come back.”

After graduating from UDel in May 2009, Wilkins was back on the Hill, interning with Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) before starting her job as intern coordinator at the Leadership Conference. There, Wilkins recruits students (she’s eager to greet her first Washington Semester intern), organizes events, and drafts calls to action around immigration and education issues.

Her D.C. homecoming also marked a return to AU, where the School of Public Affairs master’s in public administration candidate anticipates a May graduation.

Wilkins’ internship-to-employee success story isn’t one of a kind:

• Alexis Nadin, SIS-SPA/BA ’10, a program associate with Global Giving, a foundation that connects donors with grassroots projects around the world, interned there as a sophomore.

• Alli Gold’s internship experience at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (OWOW) helped her land a fellowship with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Foundation. Gold, SPA/BA ’10, returned to OWOW for full-time employment.

• After interning with Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Ben Tingle, SPA/BA ’11, was accepted to the Student Career Experience Program. When he completes the program, he’ll join the U.S. Department of State’s Rapid Response Team, evaluating requests related to the Freedom of Information Act.

Jheanelle Wilkins came to AU’s Washington Semester in 2008 with a passion for politics. She left a wonk.

A sociology major at the University of Delaware, Wilkins developed an interest in politics her junior year. She decided Washington Semester—the country’s oldest and largest experiential learning program—“would be the perfect entrée into the political world.”

“The best way to know if you’re interested in something is to immerse yourself in it. Washington Semester helped me see how the policy process works and how I can have a role in that process,” recalled Wilkins, 22. “That semester in D.C. helped me to realize my passion.”

For 16 intense, inspiring weeks, Washington was Wilkins’s laboratory for learning. A student in Professor Diane Lowenthal’s American Government and Politics seminar, the McNair Scholar toured the Supreme Court and the U.S. Capitol, chatting with the policy makers, legislators, and lobbyists who roam the halls. She also interned at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, making such a splash as a writer, organizer, and activist that the organization hired her upon graduation.

“I was going to hearings on the Hill, attending rallies, doing research. I felt like I was making a difference every day,” she said. “As soon as I left D.C., I knew I needed to come back.”

After graduating from the University of Delaware in May 2009, Wilkins was back on the Hill, interning with Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) before returning to the Leadership Conference. As intern coordinator, a position she’s held for 18 months, Wilkins recruits students (she eagerly anticipates her first Washington Semester intern), organizes events, and drafts calls to action around immigration and education issues.

Her D.C. homecoming also marked a return to AU, where she enrolled in the School of Public Affairs and anticipates a May graduation with a master’s in public administration.

“My coursework complements my job so nicely—and I practice everything I learn on my interns,” she said with a warm laugh. 

Wilkins plans to stay in Washington—the city that continues to fuel her intellectual curiosity—after graduation and eventually hopes to work in education reform.

“I want to be someone who goes into a failing school and turns it into an exemplary school. And then I want to roll out that model across the country,” she said. “I know I can make a difference.”

Alumna and trustee, Margery Kraus, SPA/BA ’67, SPA/MA ’71, was recently honored with the “Corporate Statesmanship Award” from the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC) in recognition of her leadership in the philanthropic community. Kraus, founder and CEO of APCO Worldwide, was recognized at FMC’s 16th Annual Statesmanship Award Dinner.

Kraus says that fellow AU alumna and former Congresswoman Connie Morella, CAS/MA ’67, gave her the news that she would receive the award, “and that was as exciting to me as getting the award.” She says the event was a great reunion for her with many members of Congress whom she had known since they were freshmen on the Hill. “This was especially meaningful because it wasn’t just a group giving me an award. These were people I knew,” she says. “Having people rooting for you and on your side is a very special feeling.”

APCO Worldwide is an independent, global communication, stakeholder engagement, and business strategy firm with more than 600 experts in 30 offices around the globe. Calling her one of AU’s most successful alumni, Distinguished Professor Jim Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, says, “She is a wonderful example to all of our students, but especially women.” 

Kraus, who is keenly focused on empowering young women as she runs one of the largest independently-owned communication consultancies, says that her family is her support system. As a wife, mother, and grandmother, she says that her personal brand of work-life balance would not work for everyone. “I try to be there for the most important things and make up for with experience what I lack in time,” she says. To that end, she has built a family tradition of taking each grandchild on an international trip with her when they turn 10 years old. 

Not surprisingly, Kraus says no day is ever the same for her. “I am up at 5:30. I check everything at home,” she says. “Since we’re a global company, I spend the morning catching up on what’s happening in Asia and Europe, then have meetings all day, and usually attend evening receptions.”  

Despite her intensely busy schedule, which sometimes includes weeks on end away from home, Kraus finds time to give back to AU. “Margery Kraus has been a strong and long-term supporter of American University, the School of Public Affairs, and especially the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies through her generous contribution to our benefactor’s awards, her guidance, and by sharing her wisdom and knowledge with our students and faculty,” says Professor Thurber. He adds that she speaks to students, opens her offices to them as interns and employees, and “has changed the lives of many students in countless ways.”