Josef Korbel School Dean Tom Farer, right, with U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George
Casey, a Josef
Korbel School alumnus, at the Founder's Day Gala.
By Shane Eric-Eugene Hensinger
Master's candidate in International Security
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
Josef Korbel School of International Studies alumni were honored at the University of Denver's annual Founders Day Gala on March 4.
U.S. Army Gen. George Casey, who earned his master's degree from the Josef Korbel School in 1980, received the university's Evans award -- the highest honor bestowed on alumni by the University of Denver. Casey currently serves as chief of staff of the U.S. Army. Previously, Casey commanded the multi-national force in Iraq, overseeing a coalition of more than 30 states.
Cindy Courville, pictured at left with Gen. Casey and Josef Korbel School students
Valerie Brusilovsky and Nick Dreselly-Thomas, served as U.S. Ambassador to the African
Union from 2006-2008. Courville earned her MA from the Josef Korbel School in 1980
and her Ph.D. in 1988. The university honored Courville with its Professional Achievement
Award. Courville previously served as senior director of African affairs for the National
Security Council, senior intelligence agent for the Defense Intelligence Agency and
special assistant to the president of the United States.
During their visits to Denver for the ceremony, Casey and Courville met with current students at the Josef Korbel School. Casey remarked on the superior quality of education he received at the Josef Korbel School and specifically mentioned three professors who still teach at the school: Karen Feste, Arthur Gilbert and Jonathan Adelman.
"How fortunate I was to study here," Casey said. "I had no idea at the time I would do some of the things I've done."
Courville spoke of the strength of spirit that living in the segregated American South instilled in her and how the civil rights movement taught her to "always rise above." DU, Courville said, was where she "leapt across the ocean," specifically mentioning the parallels she saw between discrimination in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and her childhood in Louisiana.
Both candidates received a warm welcome from students, faculty and staff during their visits to the Josef Korbel School as well as at the gala. Their stories and involvement with the school serve as reminders of the powerful and enduring network graduates have formed over decades at the Josef Korbel School and how valuable and important that network can be to current and prospective students.
See a DU Today video of Gen. Casey's speech to the Founders Day gala audience here.
Read coverage of the Founders Day gala and Casey's speech from The Denver Post here.
Josef Korbel School Professor Karen Feste with U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George
Casey at the Founder's Day gala.
