A Liberian from a remote village in Nimba county, behind Sanniquellie and a one-time classroom teacher has graduated with distinction from one of America's prestigious Universities-Harvard.
Jenkins Vangehn After he received many awards from the US Embassy, In 2021, he received the prestigious and rare global Hero of US Diplomacy Award 2021 for his role in ending the Second Liberian Civil War in August 2003.
But his desire to excel in academic work remain unbending and made him to enroll at the prestigious Harvard University after he retired from the Embassy in July 2020.
He graduated from Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University and graduated with distinction and obtained a Master's degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Public Policy.
Besides that, Jenkins also received a distinguished Mason Fellow Certificate or excellent academic performance from Harvard Kennedy School. He is seen as a Liberian accredited with distinction in almost all the schools he has graduated from over the years.
He was the recipient of the global Foreign Service National of the Year award as the only Liberian thus far in his first year at the Embassy. Jenkins subsequently received two Superior Honor Awards, six Meritorious Honor Awards, Eagle Award, Franklin Award, and numerous other US State Department awards.
The Liberian graduated from St. Mary's High School in Sanniquellie before going to Ghana where he enrolled in the Institute of Management Studies to pursue an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Business Management and Accounting. Later, he was admitted to the University of Ghana where he studied History and Political Science. He returned to Liberia after his graduation from the University of Ghana, Legon in 1998 and worked as a schoolteacher at Jimmy Jolocon High School in Monrovia teaching History and Geography to grades 10,11 and 12.
Jenkins was employed by the US Embassy ( State Department), in January 2001 as a Political Assistant and rose through the ranks to become a Political Specialist.
Jenkins achieved several outstanding feats at the Embassy including being nominated global Foreign Service National of the Year in his first year at the Embassy.
He subsequently received two Superior Honor Awards, six Meritorious Honor Awards, Eagle Award, Franklin Award and numerous other US State Department awards. In 2021, Jenkins received the prestigious and rare global Hero of US Diplomacy Award 2021 for his role in ending the Second Liberian Civil War in August 2003, when he single-handedly drafted the local ceasefire agreement that ended the fighting in Monrovia between the then Government of Liberia and LURD rebels who seemed poised to overrun Monrovia where over a million Liberians had moved to seek refuge from fighting that had engulfed the countryside.
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While employed at the US Embassy, Jenkins studied at the George P. Schultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center and obtained several certificates in Political Tradecraft, Diplomacy, Crisis Management, and other courses.
Jenkins also received a distinguished Mason Fellow Certificate or excellent academic performance from Harvard Kennedy School.
When this paper contacted him in the USA, he expressed delight to those who helped him to reach to this level and remains grateful to them.
" I am humbled and want to thank all those who one way or the other helped me from my grade school to this level. I shall ever remain grateful to them and the American people," he said.-
