DACOR Awards

DACOR offers three awards to recognize those who have made signification contributions to the Foreign Service, foreign affairs generally, and DACOR and the DACOR Bacon House Foundation.

Foreign Service Cup

DACOR awards the Foreign Service Cup each year on Foreign Affairs Day. The award goes to a retired FSO who had a distinguished Foreign Service career and has made significant post-retirement contributions to the broad field encompassed by the term "foreign affairs." It is DACOR's highest honor.

YEAR	RECIPIENT
2022	Nancy Powell
2021	Dennis Jett
2020	Thomas M. Tracy
2019	Jacques Paul Klein
2018	H. Allen Holmes
2017	Thomas E. McNamara
2016	Kenton W. Keith
2015	Ronald E. Neumann
2014	Richard Kauzlarich
2013	Alan Larson
2012	Rozanne L. Ridgway
2011	J. Stapleton Roy
2010	Edward W. Gnehm, Jr.
2009	Alexander F. Watson
2008	Joseph H. Melrose
2007	Robert H. Miller
2006	William P. Stedman, Jr.
2005	William D. Calderhead
2004	Stephen Low
2003	Dennis Kux
2002	Willard De Pree
2001	Frank C. Carlucci, III
2000	William C. Harrop
1999	Thomas D. Boyatt
1998	L. Bruce Laingen
1997	Charles Stuart Kennedy, Jr.
1996	Andrew I. Killgore

Ambassador Nancy Powell (right) receives the 2022 Foreign Service Cup from DACOR President Jim Dandridge.

President's Cup for Exceptional Service to DACOR

This award is given at the discretion of the DACOR president in recognition of a member who has made exceptional contributions to the organization and the DACOR Bacon House Foundation.

YEAR	RECIPIENT
2021	Raymond C. Ewing, Thomas F. Johnson and Lange Schermerhorn
2019	Martin Hurwitz
2017	Paul M. Cleveland, Richard K. McKee and Edward M. Rowell
2015	John G. Kormann and Lewis M. (Jack) White
2013	Alan Lukens and Daniel A. O'Donohue
2010	Kenneth Rogers
2009	William D. Calderhead
2006	Claude Anthony Gordon Ross

Thomas Johnson receives the President's Cup for Exceptional Service to DACOR from DACOR President Paul Denig in 2021.

The Eleanor Dodson Tragen Award

The Eleanor Dodson Tragen Award honors a spouse, family member, domestic partner or member of household, who has effectively advocated and promoted rights, programs, services and benefits for Foreign Service families in the tradition of the AAFSW and its members, as did the late Mrs. Eleanor Tragen.

YEAR	RECIPIENT
2022	Alison Davis For her tireless work as chair of post's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility committee to ensure that DEIA principles are incorporated in everything that Embassy Cotonou does. In particular, for effectively persuading embassy personnel and decision-makers in Washington that addressing Eligible Family Member (EFM) employment inequities and pay gaps is a critical part of promoting DEIA principles thorughout the Department and for changing the conervations thorughout the AF bureau, as well as at post, resulting in significant improvements in professional opportunities and inclusion at the Embassy for EFMs.
2021	Fabiula Maughan For her innovative and timely efforts to help Mission Brazil address issues of racism and social injustice following the 2020 protests that heightened awareness of these problems in Brazil and in the United States. In particular, for creating embRACE, a group of roughly 40 U.S. direct hires and local staff at Consulate General São Paulo dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion which became such a force for positive change that it inspired likeminded chapters across Mission Brazil, for putting social justice and racial equity at the center of Mission Brazil’s work, improving the quality of life for hundreds of State Department employees and their families and for making an enduring impact on one of the most important social issues of our age.
2020	Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen For her tireless advocacy for family member rights, benefits and services. In particular, for her effective efforts toward finding a sound solution to the hiring freeze imposed on EFMs in 2017, for spearheading AAFSW's successful application to be considered a recognized Employee Organization by the Department of State; and for conceiving and implementing AAFSW's "Twice Exceptional" Merit Scholarships to reward special needs students.
2019	Melissa Brayer-Hess For developing numerous groundbreaking initiatives that were ahead of their time, including three long-term projects -- the AAFSW website, the Livelines e-mail group, and the Realities of Foreign Service Life book series -- which continue to positively impact Foreign Service family members and employees every single day, over 15 years after their creation.
2018	Patricia Linderman For providing vital information via articles, books and social media and co-founding the innovative online resource the Foreign Service Hub.
2017	Kelly Bembry Midura For her work to connect Foreign Service spouses through local and virtual networking, blogs, websites and print publictations and to provide resources so that others are empowered to foster mutual support among spouses, partners, and families serving overseas.
2016	Leah Evans For advocating for the benefits of FS family members and the local communities in which they reside and work.
2015	Sheila Switzer For creating the AAFSW Foreign-Born Spouse Group.
2014	Ann La Porta For her work on raising awareness of mental health and resilience issues for FSO families.
2013	Bob Castro For his advocacy for the working spouses and partners of FSOs.
2012	Thomas Gallagher For his promotion of women, gays and lesbians in the Foreign Service.
2010	Mari O'Connor For her work on behalf of families with special needs children overseas.
2009	Mette Beecroft For her lifelong advocacy of legal and economic rights for FS wives.
2007	Leslie Dorman For her instrumental role in the creation of the Family Liaison Office.
2006	Jean Vance For defining and articulating the concerns of FS spouses.

Fabiula Maughan, recipient of the 2021 Tragen Award, with DACOR President Jim Dandridge.