March 20, 1998
Middlebury College Undergraduate Timothy Weld
Wins NATO Prize
The Atlantic Council of the United States recently
announced the winner of the prestigious 1997 NATO Essay Prize
for Excellence in Writing. Middlebury College senior Timothy Weld,
of Dover, Mass., won first prize for his composition, “NATO
in the Post-Cold War Era.” According to the Atlantic Council,
Weld’s paper was “the outstanding paper in a top-notch field
of graduate and undergraduate student entries from colleges and
universities across the country.” As first place winner of
the national competition and the council’s honored guest, Weld
traveled to Washington, D.C. to accept his award at their annual
benefit dinner, held in the ballroom of the Willard Hotel on Jan.
28.
The Atlantic Council of the United States is a non-profit,
bipartisan public policy organization based in Washington, D.C.
It is comprised of a network of private individuals convinced
of the pivotal importance of transatlantic and transpacific dialogue
to promote the effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy, and of the
importance of cohesive U.S. international relationships. Building
on 37 years of leadership in the U.S. international affairs community,
the Atlantic Council seeks to enhance U.S. initiative and leadership
through policies that identify and pursue national interests in
a framework of global interdependence, and also through the education
of future generations.
The theme for this year’s NATO Essay Prize was “The
Future of the Transatlantic Relationship.” Assistant Professor
of Political Science Allison Stanger was impressed by an essay
Weld wrote last fall for her seminar on U.S. and European relations,
and nominated the five-page paper. Brent Scowcroft, chair of the
Atlantic Council and former National Security Advisor under President
Bush, was among the experts on the prize review panel. The Atlantic
Council will be considering Weld’s paper for publication.
When asked to comment, Jeffrey Cason, professor of
political science at Middlebury College and Weld’s advisor, said
“Tim is one of those students who has shown remarkable intellectual
growth in his four years at Middlebury.”
Other distinguished guests at the award ceremony
included president of the Atlantic Council of the United States,
David Acheson, son of Dean Acheson, the American “father”
of NATO and former secretary of state under President Truman;
the Honorable William J. Perry, former secretary of defense; and
Jeremy Rosner, special advisor to the president and secretary
of state on NATO enlargement. Rosner presented the award to Weld,
and during his introductory comments read from a congratulatory
statement prepared by NATO’s Secretary General Javier Solana,
who also praised Middlebury College for playing a leading role
in preparing the next generation of international leaders.
Weld spent a week in Washington. While there, he
met Scowcroft, Perry, Rosner and Acheson, and also attended both
the Conference on NATO Enlargement and the following luncheon
as the Atlantic Council’s guest. In addition to a number of other
interviews, Weld met and discussed his thesis on U.S. policy in
Cuba with Antonio Gayoso, president of the Association for the
Study of Cuban Economy. In spite of a packed schedule while in
Washington, Weld was able to tour area museums and make a side
trip to the American University where he visited a professor who
taught while Weld was studying there during his junior year-a
semester of study made available to him as a variation of Middlebury
College’s study abroad program.
“I was honored,” said Weld upon his return
to Middlebury College. “I’m very grateful to the Atlantic
Council, Allison Stanger, and my advisor, Jeffrey Cason.”
After graduating from Middlebury this May, Weld plans
to travel during the summer before starting his job with a small
investment bank in Boston in September.