William Burns ’73–CIA Director

In the latest of a long line of professional achievements, William “Bill” Burns ’73 has been unanimously confirmed by the US Senate to head the CIA, after a notably uncontentious hearing, indicating broad bipartisan support.

At Trinity, Bill was at the top of his class and was chosen by his classmates as “most studious.” His classmates were right—he went on to earn a B.A. in History from La Salle University and a Master’s degree and Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.

Following his education Bill entered the Foreign Service and served in the State Department. Notable appointments during his tenue include: Ambassador to Jordan (1998 to 2001), Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (2001 to 2005), Ambassador to Russia (2005 to 2008), Under Secretary for Political Affairs (2008 to 2011), and Deputy Secretary of State (2011 to 2014).

During his 33-year career, Bill served under five presidents and ten secretaries of state and was the recipient of many awards, including three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards, three Secretary’s Distinguished Service Awards, two Distinguished Honor Awards, the 2006 Charles E. Cobb, Jr. Ambassadorial Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development, the 2005 Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award for Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking, and the James Clement Dunn Award for exemplary performance at the mid-career level. He has also received the highest civilian honors from the Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community. In 2013, Foreign Policy named him “Diplomat of the Year”. In 1994, he was named to TIME Magazine’s list of the “50 Most Promising American Leaders Under Age 40”, and its list of “100 Young Global Leaders”.

After his retirement from the Foreign Service, Bill was named as the 9th president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the oldest international affairs think tank in the United States. As recently as 2016, Bill has visited Trinity to talk about his career with students. He has been described as one of the finest U.S. diplomats of the last half century and we congratulate him on his nomination.

Homepage photo credit: Bill Clark / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images file

Jade Scipioni ’01

Though Jade Scipioni ’01 describes herself as “not exactly ‘most likely to succeed’ in high school,” she always believed in herself and when she left Trinity, she went to New York with the goal of becoming a journalist. Despite her “average grades and mediocre basketball skills” she was determined to become a success.

Jade began her career covering courtroom trials for Court TV, with her first major assignment as a rookie being the Anna Nicole Smith paternity case in Ft. Lauderdale, followed by the OJ Simpson robbery case in Las Vegas. After an interim period at CBS News’ “The Early Show,” covering stories like Captain Phillips, “the Miracle on the Hudson,” Drew Peterson, the 2008 financial crisis, and the presidential election, Jade was back to covering true crime at Court TV, but this time as the lead content producer. Here, she covered the Casey Anthony trial and Michael Jackson’s wrongful death trial.

Jade went on to work for Bloomberg News doing international business reporting, followed by reporting for FOX Business. Here she landed on-camera interviews with major CEOs from Tyson Foods, General Mills, Anheuser-Busch, Aramark and Epic Records. She also discovered a knack for working with athletes, and interviewed a slew of them including Joe Montana, Rob Gronkowski, Chris Paul, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Emmitt Smith, Tony Hawk, Simone Biles and Maria Sharapova.

She also had one-one-one celebrity interviews with Steve Harvey, Drew Barrymore, Christie Brinkley, Montel Williams, and Martha Stewart. Her interview with Martha Stewart stands out to her as particularly significant because it was her “first big one-on-one interview” and her grandmother had “idolized Stewart” when Jade was growing up. She had often read her magazines and watched her TV show, so to see her in real life was surreal. Looking back, Jade wishes she had asked better questions, but the interview was a “game changer” because it brought more big interviews.

As a reporter, Jade “loves reporting on health and environmental issues” and likes “asking corporate bigwigs the tough questions” without being afraid to ruffle feathers. When she looks back on her time at Trinity, her fondest memories are of playing basketball, volleyball, and going on Kairos because it allowed her to get to know her classmates more deeply. She also remembers having a lot of fun in high school, because while she was “no valedictorian or beauty queen,” she always knew “how to have a great time and be myself. Still do!”

Ryan Crowell ’21 (De La Salle House)

by Hanna Salus ’21 (Loyola House)

Ryan Crowell (De La Salle ‘21) is one of this year’s co-captains for the House System, Trinity’s governing system that emphasizes student leadership.  Alongside Jaylin McHugh-Moore (Loyola ‘21), Ryan is the “first person of contact for all the students to bring their ideas or concerns.” He is “a bridge between the students and administration.” This “bridge” has proven to be extremely beneficial to the Trinity community.  Students feel they actually have a say in what events are planned. Adopting the House System in place of a student council has opened up countless leadership opportunities, ranging from coordinators in Mentor Group Leaders to School Captains.

Representing the entire student body to parents and the school administration is a tough job on its own, and COVID-19 regulations have deepened these difficulties.  Ryan strives to make a COVID-dominated school environment as normal as possible, coming up with new events and reworking old events to fit the safety regulations.  He says one of the main struggles this year is planning events perfectly so as to be approved by administrators. Although COVID has created unprecedented challenges, Ryan thoroughly enjoys most aspects of his job.  I call it a job because of his extreme dedication to this position, spending countless hours over the summer working with Sister Susan to give the class of 2020 a graduation, organizing book drop-offs, and planning the first few days of school.  He was a key part in making sure everything went smoothly.  Ryan enjoys the responsibility he’s been given and the role model position he has taken up.  He enjoys that the administration trusts and respects him to create fun events for Trinity High School this year.