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U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin Lingeman to Be Honored at Fletcher Campus Event

The Fletcher School hosts annual Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy ceremony
An outdoor headshot of Benjamin Lingeman

The Fletcher School at Tufts University will host the U.S. Department of State on Thursday, April 4 to honor the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy. The award will be presented to Public Affairs Officer Ben Lingeman for his work advancing internet freedom and fighting disinformation. 

Mr. Lingeman serves as a Public Affairs Officer in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. He previously served as a Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, UAE, and he has also served the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, North Macedonia and the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, India.   

Joining the event will be Elizabeth M. Allen, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy. A longtime communications and public affairs strategist, Under Secretary Allen was previously a partner at the strategic advisory firm FGS Global and served in the Obama-Biden Administration for eight years as White House Deputy Communications Director and Deputy Assistant to President Barack Obama, among other roles. 

The event is sponsored by The Edward R. Murrow Center of Global Diplomacy. Fletcher Dean Kelly Sims Gallagher will deliver the award, followed by a panel discussion titled “Promoting Truth in an Evolving Information Space,” which will address public diplomacy, internet freedom, and disinformation. Panelists include:  

  • Elizabeth M. Allen, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State  
  • Carolyn Gideon, Adjunct Professor of International Communications & Technology Policy at The Fletcher School at Tufts University   
  • Ambassador Donald Heflin, Executive Director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and Senior Fellow of Diplomatic Practice  
  • Ben Lingeman, Public Affairs Officer, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State 

The event is open to the public and will begin at 12p.m. on Thursday, April 4. Attendees are encouraged to register in advance. Please register here to attend in-person. For those who cannot attend in-person, please register for the livestream here. 

Tags:

Diplomacy ,  Fletcher Features