(L-R) Senior Foreign Officer and Diplomat-in-Residence at CUNY Thomas Hart Armbruster and Director of the Center for International Service Ann Helm

Thomas Hart Armbruster, Senior Foreign Officer and Diplomat-in-Residence at CUNY, visited the College of Staten Island last week to cap off CSI’s celebration of International Education Week.
 
Faculty, staff, and students met with the Consul General in the CSI Center for International Service, asking questions and discussing matters involving careers in foreign service as well as any other topics that pertained to foreign diplomacy. 
 
Armbruster began this informal meet-and-greet by testing the attendees’ knowledge of former Secretaries of State.  He then discussed the various branches of career foreign service (there are five career tracks, in total: Management Officer, Consular Officer, Public Diplomat, Political Advisor, and Economic Advisor.)  “It is one of the most intellectually stimulating careers; you’ll always learn something new,” he said when explaining what advantages there are to careers in Foreign Service. “You help yourself, you help America.”
 
The biggest topic for discussion among the attendees was the ongoing relationship between Russia and the United States. Armbruster, who spent three years working as an Ambassador in Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East, called himself an “optimist” and told the attendees that “Business relations need to improve between U.S. and Russian companies before relations between the two nations can improve.” While in Vladivostok, Armbruster’s duties involved counseling anyone from U.S. businesses to American prisoners in Russia. 

Armbruster then invited the students to apply for a career in Foreign Service, explaining how to register for the requisite exam and apply for internships.

The Center for International Studies offers many grants and scholarships as well as study-abroad opportunities.  Programs such as “Passport Day,” “Meet the CUNY Diplomat-in-Residence,” and study abroad all offer CSI students the unique opportunity not only to take part in a “world-class” education metaphorically, but also allows them to embark on vast learning opportunities all over the world. 

Click Here for information on how to apply for a Foreign Service career.