At the opening of the awards ceremony, CIB faculty mentor Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis recognized the departing CIB Executive Team members, Shannon Brophy (Head of the Middle East Desk) and Maddy Scholar (Head of the Americas Desk). Shannon is heading to the Sultanate of Oman to participate in a US State Department internship, whereas Maddy will be a Dyer Institute Fellow in the upcoming semester. Minutes later, the CIB welcomed two incoming Executive Team members, Marissa Morini and Rick Storzieri.

Later on, CIB Executive Director Fabio and Dr. Fitsanakis, recognized the hard work of our departing Recruitment Officer, Shannon Brophy, who was awarded thee CIB Achievement Award. This recognition is offered by the CIB Executive Team to an individual member of the organization who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in contributing to the CIB’s efforts. There were six candidates for the award this year, the third-highest number ever.

Four awards were presented to CIB Analysts during the ceremony. The Intelligence Analysis Award, presented for delivering the highest-quality oral analytical product during the semester, was won by the CIB’s Russia and China Analyst Connor Lewis. The Intelligence Forecast Award, given for achieving the most successful analytical forecast record in the semester, was presented to the CIB’s Russian Armed Forces Analyst Alex Clark. The Intelligence Progress Award is given to an individual analyst whose work has shown the most progress during a single semester. This award recognizes a person who rose to meet the high standards of the CIB though constant improvement, dedication and hard work. This award was presented to CIB Analyst Blake Spradley, who is a member of the the organization’s Central and South America Desk.

The Best Intelligence Essay Award recognizes the best written analytical product of the semester. It went to Clara Comiskey (pictured right), a veteran Analyst of the CIB, who has served for two semesters in that capacity. Clara’s analytical question for the semester was: “What is the current and projected status of the Islamist insurgency in Africa’s Sahel region?”. Her final analytical product was deemed to be the best quality by a review committee composed of intelligence professionals.

In addition to Analysts, the CIB recognized its most promising members based on the consistency of their work this semester. The head of each membership desk nominated a member for the Regional Expert Award, which is given for distinguished semester-long performance as a CIB member. The award winners were: Edward Veara (North America); Cole Hancock (South America), Bryce Bond (Europe); Jackson Hauf (Russia); Maegan Herman (Africa); Thomas Jones (Asia); and Michael Habgood (Special Topics).

The final recognition of the evening went to the CIB Europe Desk, headed by CIB Finance Officer Mike Gompper. The desk won this semester’s CIB Weekly News Trivia Quiz for a second time in a row, with 56 points, just 5 points ahead of the South America, which came in second place. The Special Topics Desk came in third with 46 points.

The CIB wishes to thank all of its Executive Team Officers, its Analysts and its Members, for a highly successful semester, and looks forward to continuing to strengthen our organization in the future to come. We also want to congratulate our graduating members and wish them our very best as they embark on their next steps in life.