February 21, 2005: Headlines: COS - Afghanistan: Southwest Nebraska News: Centenial Dinner will feature Thomas E. Gouttierre, Dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at UNO
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Afghanistan:
Special Report: Afghanistan Expert RPCV Thomas Gouttierre:
February 9, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: RPCV Thomas Gouttierre (Afghanistan) :
February 21, 2005: Headlines: COS - Afghanistan: Southwest Nebraska News: Centenial Dinner will feature Thomas E. Gouttierre, Dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at UNO
Centenial Dinner will feature Thomas E. Gouttierre, Dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at UNO
Centenial Dinner will feature Thomas E. Gouttierre, Dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at UNO
Rotary Dinner to Feature Afghanistan Scholar
Rotarians around the world will be celebrating Rotary’s 100th birthday on February 23. A wide variety of activities are planned at national, state and local levels as they mark a 100 years of humanitarian commitment to volunteering.
In Cambridge, the Centenial Dinner will feature Thomas E. Gouttierre, Dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC)and the Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at UNO.
Gouttierre was raised in Maumee, Ohio, where he worked in his father's pastry shop from age 8 to age 24, receiving his Master Baking Certificate at the age of 18. Prior to assuming his present position in 1974, he lived and worked for nearly ten years in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, Gouttierre served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, a Fulbright Fellow, and Executive Director of the Fulbright Foundation. Throughout his time in Afghanistan, Gouttierre coached the Afghan National Basketball Team.
Gouttierre served on the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Afghanistan, in the capacity of Senior Political Affairs Officer, in the winter and spring of 1996/1997. He has participated in Fulbright Programs in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Norway, France, India, Nepal, and Germany. He was a member of the International Rescue Committee’s Citizens Commission on Afghanistan Refugees from 1988-1993. In 1995/1996, he served as the President of the Omaha Rotary Club. In June 1992, the University of the City of Manila in the Philippines conferred upon Gouttierre the degree of Doctor of Humanities (honoris causa); in May 1997 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Technological University of Tajikistan; and in May 2001 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of International Relations from his alma mater, Bowling Green State University.
Gouttierre has made presentations on aspects of the war in Afghanistan, on US-Pakistani Relations, on International Terrorism, and on Human Rights in hearings before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the US House of Representatives Committee on International Relations. He has been invited to present his views on Afghanistan and Human Rights Issues in hearings before committees of the British Parliament, the French
National Assembly, the Norwegian Storting, and the UN Select Committee on Human Rights. Since 1986, Gouttierre has served as the American specialist on Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and South Asia at the meetings of the
US - Russian (formerly Soviet) Task Force (Dartmouth Conference) on Regional Conflicts.
Gouttierre has spoken on topics as diverse as Afghanistan, Regional Conflicts, Global Education, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy, Third World Development, the Persian Gulf War, etc. at US State Department conferences and meetings, world affairs and foreign relations organizations, university and college campuses, service clubs, church organizations, and schools. Gouttierre is regularly called upon by representatives of the international, national, and local media and by various organizations to present his expert opinion on these topics.
Gouttierre speaks, reads, and writes Afghan Persian (Dari), Iranian Persian (Farsi), and Tajiki Persian (Tajiki)fluently; he has also studied Arabic, French, German, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. His publications include numerous articles about Afghanistan society, culture, and politics; a co-authored, two-volume language textbook (Dari for Foreigners); original Dari poetry; translations of Persian poetry; and a variety of magazine and newspaper articles concerned with other international topics.
Under the direction of Gouttierre, UNO has established institutional linkages and major program activities with universities in Afghanistan, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Tajikistan, and
Ukraine. Gouttierre and his associates have obtained grants and contracts for UNO in excess of $80 million. Under one series of grants from USAID from 1986 to 1994, the Center for Afghanistan Studies directed the development of curricula and the delivery of education to over 130,000 Afghan school children at more than 1,300 sites inside war-torn Afghanistan. Under other grants and contracts, UNO has provided training to professionals from Afghanistan, China, Moldova, Pacific Rim countries, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, etc. in American
business, management, and insurance practices, public administration, higher education development, conflict resolution, and related areas.
Since the inception of Rotary, Rotarians have responded to world wide crises. Their dedication can be seen from Rotary’s commitment of eradication of Polio to offering assistance and support for the tsunami disaster in South Asia. Today, Rotarians stand at the brink of a great victory and look forward to celebrating the global eradication of polio in 2005, the organization's centennial year.
Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards, and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. Paul P. Harris formed the world's first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 23 February 1905. The name Rotary is derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices. Today there are approximately 1.2 million Rotary club members of more than 30,000 Rotary clubs in 164 countries
When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
 | The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state. |
 | Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week. |
 | Peace Corps Calendar:Tempest in a Teapot? Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments. |
 | WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service. |
 | Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress. |
 | RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey. |
 | Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Southwest Nebraska News
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Afghanistan
PCOL17366
48
.