Sunday’s university-wide Commencement celebration had added importance for three members of the George Washington University community as they received George Washington Awards, one of the university’s highest honors.
Provost Forrest Maltzman said the awards are “conferred for extraordinary contributions to the GW community.”
“The students, staff and faculty who receive the GW Award have each, in his or her own way, shaped our university, making it the outstanding institution it is today,” Dr. Maltzman said.
This year’s winners included:
Richard Livingstone, B.A. ’12, M.P.A. ’17
Mr. Livingstone currently works in the Washington, D.C., Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services but previously served for four years in GW’s Office of Government and Community Relations. In that role, Dr. Maltzman said Mr. Livingstone helped implement the GW Community Response Program, improved relationships and communication with neighbors and served the D.C. and broader communities through his work on GW’s Senior Prom and community service projects. Mr. Livingstone also worked in GW Housing, served as a student leader for Campaign GW and was a trip leader for the GW Alternative Breaks Program.
C. Thomas Long, Ph.D. ’05
Dr. Long is assistant professor of history and coordinator of undergraduate history advising. Dr. Maltzman lauded Dr. Long for increasing the advising satisfaction rate from 40 percent to 88 percent, and said he serves as a faculty sponsor in the GW chapter of the history honor society Phi Alpha Theta. Dr. Long also teaches a “notable” history course, “Price of Freedom: Normandy: 1944,” which culminates in a trip to Normandy where students perform in-depth, archival research on a soldier who died during the invasion. “He has led this trip five times, while raising thousands of dollars to defray expenses for students who would otherwise be unable to afford the trip,” Dr. Maltzman said.
Bridget Smith, B.A. ’17
Ms. Smith worked with three GW professors on their research and academic work and served as a teaching assistant for undergraduate geography courses. She also led the Strategic Crisis Simulations student organization, which provided skill development for more than 1,200 students, including the production of more than 8,000 pages in manuals, training documents and database materials. She also assisted the Humanitarian Mapping Society student organization with cartographic projects supporting the U.S. Agency for International Development and Red Cross emergency humanitarian assistance activities following Typhoon Haiyan and disease mapping in Mozambique and Malawi. She is scheduled to join Teach for America after her graduation.
