Alumna Speaks at First Fall Skeptics

To kick off the fall Skeptics series, Beth Wilson Webster ’91, a political officer in Kazakhstan, returned to Blair on September 19 to speak about her career as a foreign service officer. A native of Blairstown, Beth joined the Foreign Service in April 2001, specializing in consular work. She arrived for her first overseas posting as vice consul at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi in September 2001 and served there until August 2003. In August, Beth completed a two-year tour as the political officer at the U.S. Embassy Branch Office in Astana, Kazakhstan. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, she briefly practiced corporate law in Washington, D.C. Beth is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where she majored in English and history; she received her law degree from the College of William and Mary. She is married to fellow Foreign Service Officer Mark Webster. This summer, Mark and Beth began their next tour at the U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, where Mark is a political officer and Beth serves as consul.

During her presentation, Beth spoke about the five specialties of the foreign service, including management, public diplomacy, diplomatic service, political, economic and consular. Through her work, she said she “has made a huge difference in people’s lives.” She added that she is proud to have this responsibility. Beth showed a Power Point presentation of the Lebanese evacuation to Turkey. “This was a highly stressful period, filled with long hours – very frustrating at times. We needed to obtain diplomatic clearance for air space from other countries, for instance.” Beth worked with families and children, gaining immense satisfaction from safely evacuating all of them, despite setbacks along the way.

Beth noted that a career as a foreign service officer has meant she is constantly changing, learning and growing. “You really have to be genuine and draw from your own experience to be a diplomat. It’s all about the attitude you bring to the job. I draw upon my experience at Blair’s sit-down dinners, for instance. There are no wasted skills. Essentially, I feel like I’ve been preparing for this job [as a diplomat] my whole life.”

Beth presented Blair’s Timken Library with a book about life inside a U.S. Embassy, including first-person accounts from other foreign service officers. Updated 9/20/06

The Society of Skeptics lecture series occurs on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in Cowan Auditorium. Click here for a full listing of scheduled speakers.

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