Holy Cross Senior Receives Award for Work on the Iranian Nuclear Crisis During Semester in D.C.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Elizabeth Conway, a member of the College of the Holy Cross class of 2010, has been selected by the College’s Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies as the 2009 spring semester’s Maurizio Vannicelli Washington Semester Away program award. She will present her thesis, “American Policy Options and the Iranian Nuclear Crisis,” on Thursday, Nov.5 at 4 p.m. in the Rehm Library.

In Washington D.C., Conway interned at the State Department, in the Office of the Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security.  The office is responsible for working with the international community to prevent, protect against, and respond to the threat of weapons of mass destruction.  Conway’s talk will focus on the nuclear threat emanating from Iran. Conway will explain the policy options available to the U.S. and will argue that a strategy of diplomatic engagement with the Iranian regime has the greatest likelihood of success in deterring the rise of a nuclear threat.

Conway, from Dedham, Mass., is a political science major with a Middle Eastern Studies concentration. She is the co-captain of the Moot Court team, and is a member of the Political Science Student Advisory Committee and the Hanify-Howland Memorial Lecture committee.

Upon graduation, Conway has secured a job with Goldman Sachs in New York City.

The Vannicelli Prize is awarded each semester in honor of the late Holy Cross political science professor and Washington Semester director, Maurizio Vannicelli, for best research paper produced in the Washington Semester Away program. The recipient of the prize is awarded the opportunity to give a public lecture at the College on his or her thesis. In addition, the recipient receives a bound copy of the thesis and is presented the book award during commencement exercises.