Anne Smedinghoff, a 2009 graduate of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Hopkins and a U.S. Diplomat in the public affairs division of the State Department, was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan on Saturday.
This act of violence, occurring while Smedinghoff was driving to Qalat in order to deliver donated books to Afghan students, killed four others as well. The attack is the most lethal involving Americans this year and represents the first time a U.S. diplomat has been killed since the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya last September.
Smedinghoff, who was 25, began working for the U.S. Foreign Service right after her graduation in 2009. An International Studies major, she first served in Caracas, Venezuela and then began working at the U.S. embassy in Kabul this past July.
Her parents, Tom and Mary Beth Smedinghoff, shared their thoughts that serve as consolation following this tragic news.
“[She] absolutely loved the work she was doing,” they said in a statement. “[She was] always looking for opportunities to reach out and help to make a difference in the lives of those living in a country ravaged by war.”
The young diplomat’s uncle, Paul Smedinghoff, remembered her with similar ideas in a video taken outside her parent’s home.
“Foreign service was kind of her life-dream,” he said. “[She wanted] to serve our country, make a difference in the world.”
Secretary of State John Kerry, who met Smedinghoff about two weeks ago, as she was part of his control team for his time in Afghanistan, remarked on her outstanding capabilities as a foreign service employee in an official statement following the tragedy.
“Everything that our country stands for is embodied in what Anne Smedinghoff stood for,” he said. “[She was] vivacious, smart, capable, chosen often by the ambassador there to be the lead person because of her capacity.”
Elected to Order of Omega, a national fraternity and sorority leadership honor society, Smedinghoff was recognized in more honorable ways at her young age than many are in their entire lives.
Not only respected by her elders, Smedinghoff was also greatly admired by peers.
A close friend, Kate Rogers, explained the blessing she feels she has been given simply by knowing her.
“Anyone who knew Anne is blessed to have known her, been supported by her, and inspired by her,” she wrote. “She was an amazing, fearless, strong beautiful, incredibly talented and intelligent woman, taken from the world far too soon.”
Smedinghoff was an active contributor to the Hopkins community during her time on campus, a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, a founding member of the Hopkins chapter of Rho Lambda, and a co-chair of the 2008 Foreign Affairs Symposium.
In this time of grief, her peers find solace in the way Smedinghoff has inspired them in the past and will continue to inspire them. Marissa Neto, also in the diplomat’s graduating class, shared the way Smedinghoff was able to touch her life in an email to the News-Letter.
“Anne was the person I turned to when I thought my world was crumbling because she was the one person I knew could always make me feel better by listening and turning my problems on their heads with her unbelievable intelligence and stunning logic,” she said. “Anne was an absolute inspiration.”
Neto also mentioned the regrets she has regarding the great deal more Smedinghoff would have been able to accomplish if given more time.
“She was going to change the world, I can assure you that,” she stated. “[Her] combination of compassion and intellect would certainly have enabled her to go far in her career, but it also endeared her to the hearts of all those around her.”
Though the Hopkins community, as well as the many others touched by Smedinghoff’s virtues, has been shocked by this horrific event, Rogers offers words of comfort to those grieving.
“Even during these horribly sad times, looking back on all the fond memories shared with her can bring immense comfort,” she said. “Anne is a true hero that will live on in our hearts, inspiring us for the rest of our lives.”
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