Sunday, August 29, 2010
MILESTONES
LEADERSHIP
Crafting policy
Frank Ruggiero, formerly of Youngstown and Austintown, has returned to Washington, D.C., to lend his expertise to U.S. Special Envoy Richard C. Holbrooke and help craft the nation’s Afghanistan-Pakistan policy.
The top civilian in southern Afghanistan since June 2009, Ruggiero has helped execute what Obama administration officials call the “civilian uplift,” a dramatic increase in the number of nonmilitary experts working on aid and reconstruction projects in the country and helping Afghan leaders deliver social services.
Ruggiero has a master’s degree in Middle Eastern affairs from American University and has completed all requirements for a doctorate except for a dissertation in U.S. foreign policy in Asia from the University of Virginia.
He has served in several positions in the departments of State and Commerce and has played a leading role in the State Department on security strategy in the Persian Gulf and on political- military issues in the Middle East.
He is the son of Frank and Barbara Ruggiero of Austintown.
DOCTORATE
Physical therapy
Kelly Williams, formerly of Canfield, has received her doctor of physical therapy degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
She is a 2003 graduate of Canfield High School and graduated summa cum laude in 2007 from Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and pre-physical therapy and a minor in biology.
Williams has accepted a position in the acute-care unit at Mary Washington Hospital, Fredericksburg, Va.
She is the daughter of Bob and Brenda Williams of Canfield.
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