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Globe: Visiting Dignitaries
| USF News
USF President Judy Genshaft greets Sir Peter Westmacott, Britain's top diplomat in the United States.
Photo by Aimee Blodgett | USF News
Amid the excitement of the GOP debate coming to campus, 50 top USF students got the opportunity to meet with Sir Peter Westmacott, Britain's top diplomat in the United States.
It was the recently-appointed ambassador's first visit to an American university campus.
During the hour-and-a-half-long exchange requested by Westmacott, students posed questions and voiced their opinions on a range of topics from higher education, tuition and politics, to the Russian-EU conference and the recent oil embargo.
"Our students didn't go easy on him; they had some very strong opinions on certain issues and posed some pretty tough questions," says USF Senate President Khalid Hassouneh. "He was very impressed with the intellectual dialogue of the student body."
In a meeting with USF President Judy Genshaft, Provost Ralph Wilcox and Karen Holbrook, senior vice president for Research, Innovation & Global Affairs, Westmacott was briefed on USF's globally-leading programs in neurosciences, autoimmune diseases, sustainability and veteran's reintegration.
That same day, USF also played host to François Dellatre, French Ambassador to the U.S. Dellatre was at the USF Patel Center for Global Solutions to honor several individuals, including French and American World War II veterans. The ambassador awarded each of the four veterans a medal of honor issued by the Republic of France.