In Focus
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| Consul General Edward (Ned) M. Alford |
New Consul General has assumed charge in Frankfurt
August 24, 2009. Consul General Edward (Ned) M. Alford, a career Foreign Service Officer, class of Minister Counselor, assumed charge of the U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt on August 19, 2009. Prior to his assignment to Frankfurt Edward (Ned) M. Alford, a career Foreign Service Officer, class of Minister Counselor, served as Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Management at the Department of State in Washington D.C.
He joined the Department of State in December 1978. His previous assignments overseas include Management Counselor at the Embassies in Baghdad and Islamabad, Management Minister Counselor Moscow, General Services Officer in Rome and Dhaka, Management Officer in Windhoek, Addis Ababa, and Leningrad, Information Systems Officer Nairobi, as well as Consular Officer Manama, Bahrain.
At the Department of State in Washington D.C. he served as Executive Director of the Bureaus of Near East Asia and South Central Asian Affairs, Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Management, and Post Management Officer for East Africa. (More)
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News From the Consulate |
Frankfurt Celebrates the Blues
August 20, 2009. American blues singers Harriet Lewis and Tommie Harris together with the Bluesnight Band unleashed blues power at a sold out open air concert entitled “Blues – Sunny Side Up” at Frankfurts Palmengarten on August 20. Lutz Fischer from media partner Frankfurter Rundschau greeted the enthusiastic crowd, among them newly arrived Consul General Edward Alford and Dr. Matthias Jenny, director of the Palmengarten. This year’s concert was the ninth event in an annual series of blues concerts co-sponsored by the Consulate, the Palmengarten, and Frankfurter Rundschau. On the hottest day of the year, an overflow outdoor audience of more than 1200 celebrated these top quality blues artists from Germany and the U.S. with standing ovations after two and a half hours of finest music. Going back to their gospel roots, Harriet Lewis and Tommie Harris ended the evening with a haunting a cappella rendition of “Amazing Grace”. (More) | Photo Gallery
Gießen – Waterloo, Iowa
August 15, 2009. On August 15th, Sister Cities Assocation Gießen - Waterloo, Iowa, presented information on the partnership during the annual "Stadtfest Gießen". The towns have been sister cities since 1981. Members of the association staffed an information booth and talked to Gießen citizens about their activities, including their recent trip to Waterloo, Iowa. They were joined by the U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt. Visitors tested their knowledge of the United States with a USA quiz and had their questions on exchange opportunities and visa answered. They picked up information on the services of the U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Section, upcoming events and EducationUSA Frankfurt.
Marburg celebrated Thorpe Cup 2009
August 8 & 9, 2009. German and U.S. decathletes and heptathletes competed against each other to win the 2009 Thorpe Cup in Marburg on August 8 and 9. The binational competition is named after the American athlete and famous Olympic medal winner Jim Thorpe who won both new two multi-event disciplines decathlon and pentathlon at the Summer Olympics in Stockholm in 1912. The Thorpe Cup takes place alternately in Germany and the U.S. every year. Supported by the U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt, this year’s competition attracted more than 3,000 visitors who cheered for the American and German teams. | (More)
Farewell to “Windows on America” Group from Ludwigshafen
August 3, 2009. Public Affairs Officer Jeanine Collins bid farewell to the “Windows on America” group from the Pestalozzi Hauptschule in Ludwigshafen on August 3, 2009. Meeting with the nine excited students and their two teachers at the Frankfurt airport, Ms. Collins wished them a wonderful experience in the United States and encouraged them to make many new friends during their trip. The students will travel to the United States for a twelve-day trip, visiting American cities such as New York, Washington, DC, and Charlotte, North Carolina. While on this trip, the students will be exposed to all aspects of American culture and daily life by visiting American museums and monuments, meeting with American youth groups, and participating in home stays with American families. (More)
DHS Deputy Secretary Lute tours Frankfurt Airport’s biometric border control system
July 21, 2009. Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute received a guided tour and demonstration of Frankfurt airport’s pilot system for automated biometric border controls by German federal police on July 21, 2009. A similar system is currently being piloted at several U.S. airports and Deputy Secretary Lute discussed her experiences with her German counterparts. Frankfurt is the first German airport to operate such a voluntary automated biometric system, which uses machine-readable passport data and an iris scan to identify previously registered passengers. Currently about 23,000 travelers have voluntarily registered with the system, which helps expedite border controls as well as enhance security.
Consulate Interns Attend International Climate Change Conference
July 12-19, 2009. Consulate interns Katelyn Andell and Katie Kyle participated in the UNESCO World Youth Festival, which took place from July 12 to 19 in Stuttgart. The event included a two day conference on climate change, during which the participants developed their ideas about climate change and suggestions for sustainable living into a “Stuttgart Statement.” The participants presented the statement to the Lord Mayor of Stuttgart, Wolfgang Schuster, at the conference’s final ceremony. Young people from 190 countries took part in the festival, enjoying such events as a tour of the Mercedes-Benz Museum, a sports day, and a screening of Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth.
Classic Jazz Rock at the Palmengarten
July 16, 2009. A unique trio of U.S. jazz artists Larry Coryell (guitar), Alphonse Mouzon (drums) and Joey DeFrancesco (B3 organ) filled the Frankfurt Palmengarten with the sounds of classic jazz rock on a beautiful summer evening. An overflow outdoor audience of nearly 1000 came to listen to the three exceptional musicians, who performed as part of the annual series of open air concerts at the Frankfurt botanical gardens. “Jazz at the Palmengarten”, under the artistic direction of Jazzinitiative Frankfurt e.V. and partly co-sponsored by the U.S. Consulate General, is the world’s longest running open air jazz series and celebrates its 5oth anniversary this year. An upcoming highlight of this summer’s concerts will be “Blues at the Palmengarten” on August 20 featuring Harriet Lewis, the Bluesnight Band and special guest Tommie Harris. (More) | Palmengarten Concert Program (pdf)
U.S. Mission to Germany supports multimedia project on Jewish history July 15, 2009. At a luncheon hosted by the Jewish Community, Public Affairs Officer Jeanine Collins welcomed a diverse group of teachers from the United States, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Turkey to Frankfurt on July 16th. The teachers participate in a week-long seminar organized by the Vienna-based non-government organization “Centropa.” Centropa uses advanced technologies to preserve Jewish memory in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Balkans and the Baltic’s, and then uses those same technologies to disseminate their findings in creative and innovative ways. | more
Bridging Cultural Differences
July 12,2009. Interns of the Consulate’s Public Affairs section met with participants of the German-American Internship Exchange of the Steuben-Schurz-Gesellschaft e.V. on July 12 to learn more about cultural differences between Germany and the U.S. and about living in Germany. After greeting the group, Steuben-Schurz-Gesellschaft’s President Dr. Ingrid Gräfin zu Solms-Wildenfels, Public Affairs Officer Jeanine Collins and Steuben-Schurz-Gesellschaft's U.S. interns program coordinator Juliane Adameit discussed the challenges and opportunities of living and learning in foreign countries. The lively discussion was followed by a city walk tour of Frankfurt and a barbeque at the Main river.
Deputy Principal Officer Doria Rosen Welcomes Participants of RISE-Program
July 9, 2009. Deputy Principal Officer Doria Rosen welcomed to Heidelberg over 350 American, British, and Canadian participants in the “Research Internships in Science and Engineering” (RISE) program, which facilitates exchange of science and culture. She emphasized the importance of international cooperation in the sciences, as well as the unique experiences the scholars will have conducting research in German universities and research institutions. This year the RISE program, which grants scholarships to undergraduate science students from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to work with German researchers, celebrates its fifth anniversary. This is also the first year that German students will travel to the United States. Following the opening exercises in Heidelberg, the students will travel to their research posts at labs and universities all over Germany.
For previous programs and events please click here.
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