Ambassador Francis Rooney was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005 serving for three years as the U. S. Ambassador to the Holy See.

     Ambassador Rooney is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Rooney Holdings, Inc., and  Manhattan Construction Group, which is engaged in road & bridge construction, civil works and building construction and construction management in the United States, Mexico and the Central America/Caribbean, and has a Naples-based subsidiary, Manhattan  Construction (Florida).

     Ambassador Rooney rejoined the Board of Advisors of the Panama Canal Authority, Republic of Panama, on which he served prior to government service, and is a member of the Board of the Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation and Co-Chair of the Board of the School of International Studies of the University of Oklahoma.   

     He is a Trustee of The Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, in Washington, D.C.  Ambassador Rooney currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. and Laredo Petroleum, Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma, and VETRA Energy Group, Bogota, Colombia. He is a graduate of Georgetown University (A.B. 1975) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1978), and holds honorary degrees from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Dallas.  He is also a member of the District of Columbia and Texas Bars, and holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Masters License (Sailing Endorsement).    

"KEY TRENDS IN 2013 MIDDLE EAST - REGIONAL TENSIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, ENERGY"

      Powell A. Moore, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, receiving the Defense Department's Medal for Distinguished Public Service for leadership. He held a comparable position at the Department of State in the first term of President Reagan, giving him the unique experience of having been both an Assistant Secretary of Defense and an Assistant Secretary of State. Most recently Mr. Moore was the Representative of the U. S. Secretary of Defense to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, based in Vienna, Austria.

      Presidential Inaugurations lead to a new beginning for the United States every four years-an opportunity for the Nation to turn the page on the past and look to the future. Significant cabinet changes follow the beginning of a new presidential term.  This is true even when an incumbent begins a second term.  Personnel decisions reflect policy.  Cabinet changes allow analysts to interpret the direction of the government for the next four years especially in foreign policy and national security.  National unity is always a goal of Presidents when a new term begins.  How does the assembly of a new team reflect the President's willingness to reach across party lines and heal the wounds of the campaign? Two important presidential statements are made early in the beginning of new presidential term - his inaugural address on January 20 and his first State of the Union address in late January or early February.  These statements are always closely analyzed.  Embassies in Washington and foreign ministries around the world will pour over every word in search of their meaning.

      Mr. Moore has been engaged in most of the transitions that have occurred over the past forty years from key positions in the White House, the State Department, the Defense Department and on the Senate staff.  He holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia. He also attended preparatory school at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville. Mr. Moore's service to the country began in 1959 as infantry officer Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to a combat ready infantry division in Germany for two years during the time of the building of the Berlin Wall.

MARCH 11

EVA MARIA COUNTESS KENDEFFY

CONSUL GENERAL OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

"GERMANY AND ITS ROLE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION"

 

     Mr. Monaghan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1937.  His father died four years later, ushering in a childhood spent largely in an orphanage and a succession of foster homes.  After graduating from Ann Arbor's St. Thomas High School in 1955, and enrolling at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, Monaghan enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1956, and was Honorably discharged three years later, he returned to Ann Arbor, where he enrolled at the University of Michigan. While still a student, he founded Domino's Pizza.  He and his brother, James, borrowed $900 to buy a small pizza store called DomiNick's in Ypsilanti. By 1998, Domino's had 6,250 stores, and ranked as the world's largest pizza delivery chain, pioneering a number of industry innovations inspired by Mr. Monaghan. Mr. Monaghan has received honorary degrees from twelve universities around the country, and in March of 2000, he was named an Honorary Fellow of Magdalene College within Britain's University of Cambridge. The story behind Domino's Pizza was compiled for the first time in his 1986 autobiography, Pizza Tiger, published by Random House.  He sold Domino's Pizza in 1998 to Bain Capital, Inc., leaving behind its day-to-day operations, which he had overseen for 38 years.