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Mitchell B. Reiss, vice provost for international affairs, professor of law, and professor of government, is being awarded the Foreign Affairs Award for Public Service by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for his service as the President’s special envoy to the Northern Ireland peace process from 2000 to 2007. May 10, 2007
Story by College Staff, WM Notes


Mitchell B. Reiss

Mitchell B. Reiss, vice provost for international affairs, professor of law, and professor of government, is being awarded the Foreign Affairs Award for Public Service by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for his service as the President’s special envoy to the Northern Ireland peace process from 2000 to 2007. The award is presented to individuals who during their association with the U.S. Department of State performed with exceptional dedication and distinction. Reiss also served as director of the secretary of state’s policy planning staff from 2003 to 2005.

Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as the chief of staff for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that the award was well deserved and that “Mitchell Reiss was instrumental in bringing a successful end to one of the most intractable conflicts in European history and a great many people are grateful for his efforts. To help put an end to 'the Troubles' is not only a Herculean achievement but one that all people everywhere heartily welcome and applaud. I congratulate Ambassador Reiss and wish him all the best.”

Reiss is one of only a handful of ambassadors to receive this prestigious award. Others include James Blanchard, a former two-term governor of Michigan and U.S. ambassador to Canada, Richard H. Solomon, president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank and Stuart E. Eizenstat, a former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.