Commemorative Markers & Memorials

Ambassador Joan A. Polaschik

Before retiring with the distinguished diplomatic rank of Career Minister, Ambassador Joan A. Polaschik was the Director of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center (NFATC) from May 2022-February 2025. In that capacity, she served as the Chief Learning Officer for the Department of State and the federal foreign affairs community.

Ambassador Polaschik joined the NFATC team in February 2020, serving as Dean of the School of Professional and Area Studies and the Center's Deputy Director prior to assuming her role as NFATC Director. She spent the 2019-2020 academic year as a Senior State Department Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, teaching courses on U.S. diplomatic statecraft and North Africa.

Ambassador Polaschik’s career has focused on the Middle East and North Africa, with assignments as Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (2017-2019) and U.S. Ambassador to Algeria (2014-2017). She previously served as Director of the State Department’s Office of Egypt and Levant Affairs; Director of the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs; Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S Embassy in Tripoli, Libya; Regional Refugee Coordinator based at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan; Political Officer in Tunisia; and other staff-level assignments in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. She also has served in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

Ambassador Polaschik earned a BA from the University of Virginia and an MSFS from Georgetown University. Thanks to the talented language instructors at NFATC, she speaks French, Arabic, and some Russian and Azerbaijani.

Ambassador Marc Grossman

Before joining the private sector, Ambassador Marc Grossman served as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and as the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also was Assistant Secretary and Under Secretary.

Julieta Valls Noyes

Julieta Valls Noyes served as the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration until her retirement in 2024. She previously served as Deputy Director and the Department’s Chief Learning Officer as Acting Director of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center from 2018 to 2021. She was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia, a NATO ally and member of the European Union, from 2015 to 2017. From 2013 to 2015, A/S Noyes served as Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, where she managed relations with twelve Western European countries and the European Union. As Deputy Executive Secretary for the Department of State from 2011 to 2013, A/S Noyes managed trips and oversaw the preparation of briefing materials for two Secretaries of State. She was Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See from 2008 to 2011. A/S Noyes has also served as Deputy Director of the Operations Center, the State Department’s 24-hour crisis management and communications center; Director of the Office of Multilateral and Global Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; and in domestic and overseas positions in the Bureaus of European and Western Hemisphere Affairs. She is a first-generation American whose parents arrived in the U.S. as refugees from Cuba. Her stele, the “Rock of Valls Noyes,” is a unique landmark on NFATC’s campus.

Ambassador Daniel B. Smith

Before retiring with the highest diplomatic rank of Career Ambassador, Ambassador Daniel B. Smith had been the Chief Learning Officer for the Department as Director of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center and Acting Secretary of State. He also served as Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research from 2013 to 2018 and as Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic from 2010 to 2013. Previously, he served as Executive Secretary of the State Department, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs, and Deputy Executive Secretary. In addition to Greece, his overseas service included Bern, Istanbul, Ottawa, and Stockholm. He also taught political science at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Ambassador Davis E. Boster
(1920–2005)

Ambassador Boster was a career Foreign Service Officer who became the first U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh in 1974 and was named Ambassador to Guatemala in 1976. Other assignments included Moscow, Bonn, and Warsaw, as well as key Washington roles. He led the U.S. delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in 1973 and 1974. He advocated the Foreign Service as a career for those who are interested in other cultures and foreign policy. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Paulette DeLaunay-Fogg
(1946–2016)

Paulette was born in France and was a beloved member of the French faculty in the National Foreign Affairs Training Center’s School of Language Studies for more than 40 years. She is remembered for her loving heart and for her generosity.

The mint transplants in the Romila Thapar Garden were contributed by her children to remind colleagues of their mother’s mint tea.

Melissa A. Dorsey
(1982–2013)

Melissa A. Dorsey passed away in 2013 in New York while undergoing cancer treatment. She was serving as a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and was a member of the 150th A-100 class.

John Hussey
(1979–2021)

William “John” Hussey joined the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer in May 2014 as a member of the 177th Foreign Service Generalist Class. He served in Manila, Philippines; Maputo, Mozambique; as the Belarus Desk Officer in EUR-EE; and in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, John served as an officer in the United States Army after earning a commission from Texas State University in 2000. While serving in the Army, John attained the rank of Major while serving as a Special Operations Civil Affairs officer serving several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and later as a doctrine writer in Abu Dhabi. In the Foreign Service, John was a Political Officer specializing in human rights. He studied Spanish, German, Russian, Portuguese, and a bit of Kiswahili.

A humble but well-traveled man, John will be remembered for his quick wit, infectious smile, and love of wearing flip flops even in the winter. He is best known for his marvelous cooking, his loyal friendship, and his limitless love of family. Whether enjoying the beach, scuba diving, snowboarding, or camping, John always had a kind word and a story to tell.

John is survived by his wife, Jean Marie, his two sons, Joshua and Jacob, his mother Bettye, and sister Alisabeth.

Shawn O’Donnell
(1982–2022)

Shawn O’Donnell joined the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer in April 2019 as a member of the 198th Foreign Service Generalist Class. She served tours at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, India, and in the Office of Southern European Affairs in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.

Shawn was born and raised in Danville, California. She received a bachelor’s degree in history and Middle Eastern studies from the University of California at Berkeley, where she competed on the crew team, and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining the Department of State, Shawn worked as an account manager at Google and later as an immigration services officer and a refugee officer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security. She spoke fluent Arabic from her time spent studying and living in Damascus, Syria, and Cairo, Egypt.

Shawn was tragically killed on July 21, 2022, while biking to work in Washington, D.C. She is survived by her mother Mary, sister Shannon, brother-in-law Andreas, and many friends and colleagues around the world.

Ambassador Arnold L. Raphel
(1943–1988)

Ambassador Arnold L. Raphel was a career Foreign Service Officer and became U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan in 1987. In 1988, he, Brigadier General Herbert M. Wassom, Pakistani President Zia Ul Haq, and others died when their plane crashed near Bahawalpur, Pakistan. The Department’s annual award for excellence in mentorship is named for Ambassador Raphel.

Alma Santiago
(2022)

This tulip poplar tree and plaque are placed in honor of our dear friend and colleague Alma Santiago, who we lost in January 2022. Alma worked in the SPAS Curriculum and Staff Development division as Program Assistant for several years. Prior to that, she worked in the Leadership and Management School. Alma also served in Manila and Beijing as an EFM, and throughout her long government career she proudly received numerous awards for her superior work.

Alma is fondly remembered by her colleagues at NFATC for her warm and loving spirit, the delicious homemade baked goods she shared with the office, and her love of gardening. The NFATC family feels the tulip poplar demonstrates the bright spirit that we lost in Alma, and she is sorely missed.

Anne Smedinghoff
(1987–2013)

Anne Smedighoff was killed by a bomb as she helped to deliver books to a school in Afghanistan’s Zabul Province. Her first Foreign Service tour had been in Caracas. She said she volunteered for service in Kabul, and particularly for public diplomacy work, because she thought it gave her the best opportunity to make a difference. Co-workers remember her commitment to her country and engaging with the Afghan people. Friends remember her taste for adventure and her love for her work.

Deputy Secretary Walter J. Stoessel, Jr.
(1920–1986)

A career Foreign Service Officer, served as ambassador to Poland, Russia, and Germany. He later was Deputy Secretary of State and also filled Assistant Secretary, Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Interim Secretary roles.

Mary Elizabeth Stuessy
(1976–2008)

A member of the 134th A-100 class, she passed away while a student at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center in 2008. She was preparing for her first Foreign Service assignment in Nouakchott.

Frederick "Fred" W. Thielke
(1986–2018)

Frederick W. Thielke, a Foreign Service Officer, died in 2018 during a mountain climbing accident in Veracruz, Mexico, while posted in Mexico City. He is remembered with this plaque and tree by his 175th A-100 classmates.