On July 17, The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) proudly honored Mary Anastasia O’Grady and Otto Reich with the 2012 Walter Judd Freedom Awards during a ceremony at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.  Mary Anastasia O’Grady is an editorial board member and columnist with the Wall Street Journal. Otto Reich is a former ambassador to Venezuela. In attendance were TFAS faculty, donors and students from our 2012 Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems (ICPES) and the new Institute on Economics and International Affairs (IEIA).

This annual award is named in honor of Walter Henry Judd (1898-1994), one of the founders of TFAS. Judd was a leading 20th century statesmen and orator. He began his career as a medical missionary in China and was elected to Congress from Minnesota in 1942, where he served for 20 years. He was recognized as a leading expert in Asian affairs and advised every president from Truman to Reagan. President Reagan conferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom upon Judd in 1981.

The Walter Judd Freedom Award is presented annually to recognize individuals who have advanced the cause of freedom in the United States and abroad. TFAS has been granting this award in Walter Judd’s honor since 1994 when William F. Buckley, Jr. became the first recipient. Both O’Grady and Reich were chosen for their commitment to promoting freedom in Latin America.