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Back Issues of PDAA Today

Back issues of PDAA Today, PDAA’s quarterly print newsletter are now online and available for download.

A Remembrance of Vincent John Hovanec

Vince Hovanec

By Rosemary Crockett

Vince Hovanec died in Bonita Springs, Florida, on November 21, 2019, following an acute brain incident.

Born in New Rochelle, NY, Vince earned a BA in History from Dartmouth College. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves 1958-1965, attaining the rank of Captain. He worked as a journalist […]

Remembering Jake Gillespie

By Michael Schneider

Jake Gillespie

Even as a high school senior, Jake Gillespie knew he wanted to become a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. He once commented, “…. If I had to try to do some self-analysis, I would say that deep inside me there was still the boy from Cairo, Illinois, and I […]

A Tribute to Michael Anderson

by Charles Silver

Michael H. AndersonPhoto courtesy of Alan Kotok

I first met Mike Anderson on an airplane flying from Los Angeles to Hilo, Hawaii, to begin my training as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malaysia. It was a large group of over 150 recruits and I was sharing a seat with a […]

A Tribute to Paul Blackburn

by Michael Schneider

Paul Blackburn’s JOT class, held in connection with the DOS junior officers. USIA officers are in capital letters. FIRST ROW: Dwight Mason; JOEL ROCHOW; Bruce Hirshorn; Edward Richards; Frederick Ashley; Gordon Streeb; Keith Smith; Joseph Lake; Arnold Nachmanoff; LEONARD BALDYGA; James Ragan.SECOND ROW: Chester Beaman; Linda Irick; JOAN DICKIE; Lauren […]

Hans N. “Tom” Tuch

by Leonard J. Baldyga

Hans N. (Tom) Tuch, an early and persistent advocate of public diplomacy as an indispensable element in the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs, died on September 7, 2020, at his residence in Bethesda, MD. He was 95. The cause of death were complications following a recent fall. His seminal book, Communicating […]

John Matel recollection by Christopher Datta

by Christopher Datta

John Matel

I am writing to mourn a friend, John Matel, who passed away unexpectedly.

John and I are both retired Foreign Service Officers. We were not close friends, but I enjoyed working with him in the State Department, and he often came to my annual Fourth of July party, […]