MacKenzie Biedell Honored for Global Service

Elizabeth MacKenzie Biedell, ’96, received the 2006 Jepson Alumni Achievement Award, presented annually to a Jepson School graduate of the last decade whose achievements reflect the mission of the School.

MacKenzie Biedell has had an impressive and busy 10 years since her graduation. Currently, she is serving a two-year assignment in Vienna for the United States Department of State in Foreign Service to the United Nations. Her term in Vienna will wrap up in 2007, at which point she may pursue politics, teach, or try her hand at writing a book.

Before moving to the State department in 2005, MacKenzie Biedell served as an intelligence analyst focused on Middle Eastern leaders. Although in a junior position, she was in the right place at the right historic moment. In the aftermath of 9/11, she wrote briefing memos for President George W. Bush and his top advisors, detailing how leaders were making decisions, including who they surrounded themselves with when they made those decisions.

Elizabeth graduated from Richmond in 1996 with a double major in leadership studies and international studies. Immediately after graduation, she followed her interest in international relations and Foreign Service to the U.S. Embassy in Oman. MacKenzie Biedell arrived in June 1996, on the day that the U.S. Air Force barracks in Saudi Arabia were attacked, killing 17 service men and women. That same day, the embassy in Oman received a bomb threat. Though it was a difficult decision and the Arab world was becoming more hostile to American policies, MacKenzie Biedell remained in the country, researching Omani women, education, and religion.

To really understand the Middle East, she realized, one has to understand religion. This awareness prompted her to pursue a master’s degree in theology. She earned dual master’s degrees, one in international peace and conflict resolution from American University and one in theology from Wesley Seminary. She went to work for the US government as an intelligence analyst in 1999 and became a foreign service officer in 2004.

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