Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

In Spring of '08, Paula Dobriansky (SFS '77), U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, delivered the inaugural lecture in the Michael Jurist Distinguished Alumni Round Table Series (MJDARTS). Funded through donations by Michael's family and friends, the series is designed to expose BSFS students to the rich and varied accomplishments of SFS alumni. Featured alumni host an informal round table in which they speak about their personal and professional experiences, important successes, and the challenges they have faced. MJDARTS is named for Michael Jurist (SFS '07), whose sudden death in the summer of 2007 shocked the many people his life touched in the University community and across the world.

Michael's father, Paul Jurist, and his wife Vesna chose the format because of its potential to "make a real difference in the lives of students unsure about which career to pursue as well in the lives of those who know what they would like to do but are unsure about how to get there. We knew that if we could help even one student at each lecture, we would have made a tangible difference in a student's life."