Inspiring words from the US Consul General

The Fogarty UWA Scholars enjoyed learning about life as a diplomat when they had the benefit of listening to US Consul General Ms Siriana Nair at their most recent ‘In Conversation’ event held on 30 August.

The Scholars learned that, over her 20 year career, Ms Nair has served in India, the Philippines, Morocco, Washington, Indonesia, Brazil and now in Australia where she is committed to growing U.S. partnerships.  She is also impressively skilled in foreign languages, speaking six in total (Indonesian, French, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese and English)!

On the evening, Scholars heard about some remarkable achievements including her work in Brazil, India and Indonesia, ranging from foreign policy to democracy and human rights, military and security cooperation, and the South China Sea.

Most impressive was Ms Nair’s recount of working closely with the Moroccan authorities to encourage reform of their prisons, which included by hosting a field trip to see how the US run their prisons which enabled some significant improvements to be adopted, that are still in place today.

So how does someone get to hold a role like Consul General?  Ms. Nair has a Master’s degree in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, as well as degrees in Political Science and Biology from Wellesley College.   

Something some attendees did not know is that Ms Nair’s husband is also in the foreign service and it was interesting to hear her views on making life work when a couple – and parents – are both diplomats.  We thank Ms Nair for her time and know our Scholars and alumni found it a valuable event.