New International Affairs Head Wants The World for University of Maryland

In 1976, when Ross Lewin was 16 years old, he left his Los Angeles home for the first time to spend the year in Hannover and Hamburg, Germany, as an exchange student with the program Youth for Understanding. Decades later, he still recalls this experience "to see the world from outside of the U.S." as "incredibly formative." Eventually, it would also help shape both his worldview and career. 

As the newly appointed associate vice president for international affairs at the University of Maryland, Lewin said he hopes to bring new international programs to the College Park campus "and transform the lives of students, the way mine had been."

Thanks to Scholarship, Saudi Students Return to U.S. in Droves

After living in the United States for six years, Hani Aljuaid has developed a taste for American coffee.

"Every morning, I go to Starbucks. It's a habit I picked up" while studying at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said the 25-year-old from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. "But at night, I have to have Arabic coffee." 

 Along with a newfound penchant for caffeine, Aljuaid recently completed a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics, one of nearly 68,000 Saudis studying this year at more than 1,200 universities and colleges across the United States as a participant in the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP).

Harriman’s Legacy Endures

More than 150 guests gathered inside one of the elegant reception rooms at the U.S. Department of State, named for America’s first ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin, to honor another U.S. ambassador to France — the late and equally elegant Pamela Harriman — and to celebrate the Foreign Service fellowship named in her memory.

Heaven and Earth Collide in ‘African Cosmos’

"African Cosmos: Stellar Arts," an eclectic mix of some 100 objects, spanning from antiquity to modern 

day and encompassing the length and breadth of the continent, examines man's timeless relationship with such heavenly phenomena like the earth, sky, sun, moon and stars as well as lightning and rainbows. On display at the National Museum of African Art, "African Cosmos" is the first major exhibit to explore the historical legacy of African cultural astronomy and its intersection with traditional and contemporary African art.

‘Modern American Genius’ Showcased at Three Museums

Three popular art museums around D.C. are collaborating on a three-artist retrospective that celebrates the achievements of the "Modern American Genius."

Throughout the summer, the cutting-edge contributions to the art world of Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns and Barnett Newman will be on display at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection and the National Gallery of Art, respectively. Each museum will be hosting an exhibition dedicated to a seminal body of work from one of these major trailblazers, each of whom helped to elevate the stature of modern American art on the international stage.

EU Carbon Tax Scheme Riles Up U.S. Airlines

Tensions are continuing to escalate between the European Union and countries around the globe as the EU maintains its implementation of the Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), which went into effect for airlines on January 1 of this year.

U.S. airlines, however, along with their counterparts in nations such as China and Russia, have balked at being forced to pay millions of dollars in fees based on how many tons of carbon dioxide their aircraft emit and have threatened to retaliate.

Staff Serve as Invisible Glue That Keeps Hotels Together

From heads of state to globetrotting tourists, visitors to Washington have come to expect an experience worthy of the nation's capital.

A peak behind the scenes at some of D.C.'s premier hotels reveals a quiet cadre of dedicated service professionals working hard to ensure that the city's guests are well looked after.