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Diplomacy Scholarship

New U.S. Diplomacy Scholarship

Apply now to support your goals to become a diplomat with up to $5,000

Selection Criteria

  • Demonstrated commitment to pursuing a career in diplomacy with the U.S. government as a Foreign Service officer or related position with an agency whose primary mission is promoting diplomatic interests of the United States.
  • Academic achievement
  • Leadership and extracurricular accomplishments
  • Completed or upcoming government internship
  • International, foreign language, and cross-cultural competency
  • Full-time BYU student and U.S. citizen

Application deadline: January 2025

Apply Now

This scholarship is provided by the V Jordan and Patricia N. Tanner Endowment. To learn more about V Jordan Tanner, one of the providers of this scholarship, click here.

Past Recipients

Ben Goetsch (2025) is originally from North Carolina and is majoring in Political Science with an emphasis in International Strategy and Diplomacy, with a minor in Spanish, at Brigham Young University. A returned missionary who served across five Caribbean nations, he has engaged deeply with global affairs through his role as a Spanish-language intern at the Embassy of Spain in Washington, D.C., and as a research assistant on projects related to the domestic politics of war. As a member of BYU’s award-winning 2025 Model United Nations delegation and a club officer in the Foreign Service Student Organization, Ben has cultivated a strong foundation in diplomacy and international engagement. He also serves as a program coordinator for BYU LEAD, directing Spanish-language volunteer interpretationprograms for immigrant children in Utah. He is passionate about public service, languagelearning, and advancing U.S. diplomacy through global understanding. After completing hisdegree at BYU, he plans to apply to law school and also pursue a career in the U.S. ForeignService.

Estelle Robbins (2025) is a globally minded, purpose-driven student pursuing a B.A. in Chinese Studies at Brigham Young University, with a concentration in international relations and public diplomacy. In 2024, she served as a Press and Public Diplomacy Intern at the U.S.Mission to the United Nations, where she advanced U.S. engagement on global platforms.That same year, she supported government relations and international outreach with theU.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Previously, she interned at the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Defense University. Estelle hascontributed to high-level diplomatic initiatives—from presidential delegations to strategiccommunications and multilateral cooperation. At BYU, she’s has been a leader in ModelUnited Nations, having served as a Teaching Assistant, Committee Chair at the New York City Conference, and Student Delegate. With the study of Mandarin and a passion for publicservice, Estelle aims to build a career in international diplomacy, where she can continueconnecting cultures and shaping global dialogue.

Emma Dart (2024) is from Laguna Niguel, California, majoring in International Relations and minoring in business. While attending BYU, she has enjoyed taking part in the 2020 Model United Nations team, conducting research in Malaysia, and participating in a diplomatic outreach to Azerbaijan through the Sterling Foundation. As of 2022, she has served as co-president of the Foreign Service Student Organization. As an intern with the Secretary of State's Office of Global Women's Issues during the summer of 2024, she worked on an event for the 75th anniversary of NATO and integrated a gender perspective into security frameworks. In her personal life, she enjoys female-centered investing and empowering women through self-defense.

Joseph Gibbons (2024) always wanted to be an ambassador from a young age, with a dream of one day joining the U.S. Foreign Service. Throughout high school, Joseph participated in local and community government, twice being the youngest county delegate for his local caucus. Following a mission in Thailand, Joseph attended BYU, studying Political Science and took courses in Portuguese, Thai, Lao, and Arabic. During his undergraduate studies, Joseph also joined Vivint in 2016, where since then, he has personally protected over 1000 families, trained dozens of sales representatives and was responsible for generating over several million dollars of lifetime revenue for the company. During his time at Vivint, he spent hundreds of volunteer hours with Vivint’s charity arm, Vivint Gives Back, volunteering in various capacities domestically and abroad, earning him the “Volunteer of the Year Award” in 2023. During this time, Joseph found his heart leaning toward public service again and applied simultaneously for the US Foreign Service Officer Exam and BYU’s MPA program, the latter of which he is a currently a candidate. He looks forward to continuing his education and his pursuit of spreading democracy and advocating for U.S. interests worldwide.

Josh Stevenson (2023) is from Purcellville, Virginia and completed an internship at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked in the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. He also taught English with Bridge Language Study House in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and worked with Toledo Translations, a local legal translation firm. Stevenson was a research assistant with the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship and a teaching assistant for five professors across Honors, History, and Linguistics. He graduated from BYU in August 2023 with a B.A. in Linguistics and a minor in Editing and starts the Master of Public Policy program at the University of Virginia's Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy this fall. He plans to join the Foreign Service after completing graduate school.

Adrianna Carter (2023) is a Global Supply Chain Management major in the Marriott School of Business; she aims to pursue a career in logistics and operations management with the Foreign Service. As the daughter of a Foreign Service Officer, she spent her teenage years posted to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Warsaw, Poland; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In Warsaw, she worked in the Community Liaison Office and Economic Section where she helped organize embassy events (including with then-President Obama during the 2016 NATO Summit), drafted cables and talking points for Embassy leaders, and helped coordinate fundraising for the annual 4th of July representational event. Later, with the Immigrant Visa Unit and Finance section in Riyadh, she analyzed the financial impacts of the “Muslim ban” on Yemeni Diversity Visa applicants and evaluated bids for federal contracts. She has interned with Polaris, Inc. and is currently interning with Caterpillar on their consulting services procurement team. At BYU, Adrianna trained volunteers for Y-Serve Refugee and led fundraising efforts for Run4Refuge. She also serves as co-president of the Global Business Student Association and president of the Foreign Service Student Organization, where she organizes and directs events for students interested in the Foreign Service.

McKay Smith (2022) is majoring in Public Health with an emphasis on Health Promotion and minoring in International Development. He aims to advance U.S. international health diplomacy and outreach while pursuing a career as an Environmental, Scientific, Technology, and Health officer for the U.S. Department of State. Through BYU Washington Seminar, he completed a State Department internship with the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs in the Office of Policy and Public Outreach where he analyzed global environmental and health policy. Subsequently, McKay received a second internship with the U.S. Department of State, where he creates environmental reports and funding proposals for the Pacific region’s health access programs. In 2022, he completed a Public Policy and International Affairs Program Junior Summer Institute fellowship with Carnegie Mellon University, a rigorous academic graduate-level preparation program for students committed to public service careers. He is co-president of BYU's Students for International Development club. He is an avid runner preparing for an upcoming marathon with his sibling. McKay will participate in a spring 2023 internship monitoring air quality in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Kara Molnar (2021) is currently a Boren Scholar in Latvia, focused on Russian. She has double majors in History and Spanish, with minors in Mathematics and Russian. She also studies French and is interested in the history and politics of Central American and post-Soviet states. Kara interned with the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., tracking current issues and editing a manuscript on U.S. policies toward insecurity in Colombia and Mexico. In 2020 she interned with the U.S. Department of State in the Madrid, Spain Embassy, researched speeches, and led the Digital Engagement Unit. Previously, she completed an internship with the Latvian Institute of International Affairs in Riga. She was president of the Foreign Service Student Organization, received an "Outstanding Position Paper" award as a BYU Model UN Teaching Assistant, and was awarded a FLAS Scholarship in Russian.

Liam Smith (2021) completed four different diplomacy internships as a married student: with the Office of the Legal Advisor and the U.S Department of State; with the Office of General Counsel and USAID; with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; and as a Legal Intern for USAID through the Virtual Student Federal Service. He received a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies with a minor in Africana Studies from BYU and a joint Master of Public Administration and Juris Doctorate from the BYU Marriott School and Law School, where he received the Karl N. Snow Award for Academic Excellence, participated in the Near Eastern Studies Seminar, and was a board member with the International Law Students Association. He's a volunteer board member with the Elevatus Foundation, helping parents and children with education and skills to decrease poverty.