David L. Boren Awards for International Study

David L. Boren, the principal author of the National Security Education Act, attended the 20th anniversary celebration of that legislation on September 8, 2011.  Passed in 1991, the National Security Education Act created the National Security Education Program and the Boren Awards.

The 20th anniversary celebration was held in conjunction with this year’s Boren Fellowship Symposium on September 8-9 at the Hyatt Regency Capitol HIll in Washington, DC.  More than 60 Boren Fellowship alumni attended the symposium that opened with a welcome by Christopher Powers, director of Education Abroad Programs at the Institute of International Education and Michael Nugent, director of the National Security Education Program.  The symposium included presentations on a variety of topics and a job information session with representatives from various federal government agencies and federal contractors.

During the 20th anniversary celebration on Thursday evening, David L. Boren and Clifford Stanley, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, contributed remarks on the importance of language skills and cultural understanding to developing international partnerships and improving U.S. national security.