Distinguished Public Service Award
The Frank Church Institute Distinguished Public Service Award, presented by Boise State University’s Frank Church Institute, honors individuals who have demonstrated exceptional public service. The award has recognized notable figures such as Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. in 2013, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in 2016, and Idaho native Gregory C. Carr in 2024.
Conferences
The Frank Church Institute has held conferences featuring a long roster of distinguished participants, including: former President Gerald Ford; former Vice Presidents Al Gore and Walter Mondale; former Senators Mark Hatfield, Slade Gorton, Edmund Muskie, and Gaylord Nelson; former White House Counsels Ted Sorensen, Leon Panetta, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; and former Ambassadors Joseph Sisco, Andrew Young, and Paul Warnke.
Table Conferences
The widely ranging conference subjects are found in the following table.
| Year | Frank Church Conference | Keynote Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | War or Peace? The American Role | Senator Frank Church |
| 1983 | International Issues in the Middle East | Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Sisco |
| 1984 | Political Repression and Social Control | United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young |
| 1985 | Americanism: Activism or Apathy? | President Gerald Ford; Senator Edmund Muskie |
| 1986 | Responding to Revolution: At Home and Abroad | Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Warnke |
| 1987 | Who Decides? The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy | Assistant Secretary of State David Newsom |
| 1988 | Prospects for Peace | White House Advisor Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. |
| 1990 | Our Public Lands | Senator Gaylord Nelson |
| 1991 | The New World: Changing U.S.-U.S.S.R. Relations | Advisor to Russian Duma Andrei Kortunov |
| 1992 | The World After the Soviet Union | Advisor to Soviet General Secretary Georgi Arbatov |
| 1994 | Honor in Public Service | United Kingdom M.P. Dudley Fishburn |
| 1995 | The Impact of Global Arms Sales | Congressman Robert Drinan |
| 1996 | Troubled Waters: Preserving Life’s Most Precious Resource | Founder of Sightline Institute Alan Thein Durning |
| 1997 | What is National Security? | Senator Mark Hatfield |
| 1998 | The Dragon Stirs: A New Dawn for China and the U.S. | Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China He Yafei |
| 1999 | Juggling Pragamatism and Principle: Intervention and the Balkans | Major General William Nash |
| 2000 | The Presidency: Leadership and the Paradox of Power | White House Counsel Theodore Sorensen |
| 2001 | Lights Out in the American West! Oil, Water, Gas & Conservation | White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta |
| 2002 | America’s Image Abroad: Leadership? Hubris? Indifference? | Reverend Forrest Church |
| 2003 | Secrecy in Government | Vice President Walter Mondale |
| 2004 | The American Presidency: Principled Leadership | Senator George McGovern |
| 2005 | Global Flash Points: Clash of Cultures | Holocaust Survivor Samuel Pisar |
| 2007 | Global Warming: Beyond the Inconvenient Truth | Vice President Al Gore |
| 2007 | Tipping Points: Presidents, the Constitution & National Security | Senator Gary Hart |
| 2008 | America’s Challenges: Perils and Possibilities | Senate Intelligence Committee Counsel F.A.O. Schwarz, Jr. |
| 2009 | The Global Environment: From Kyoto to Copenhagen | U.N. Informantion Center Director William Davis |
| 2010 | Eagle & Dragon: The U.S. & China in the 21st Century | Deputy Secretary of State David Shear |
| 2011 | The Arab Spring | Ambassador Christopher Hill |
| 2012 | Afghanistan After America | Ambassador Ryan Crocker |
| 2013 | Watching the Watchers: Security vs. Liberty | Journalist Jonathan Alter |
| 2014 | Wilderness: America’s Heritage | Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley |
| 2016 | Clash of Cultures: The Middle East in Turmoil | Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta |
| 2017 | America’s Future: Refugees, Migration and National Security | Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard |
| 2018 | Global Struggle for Democracy | National Democratic Institute President Ken Wollack |
| 2019 | Democracy in an Age of Anxiety | Ambassador Michael McFaul |
| 2020 | How Democracies Survive and Thrive in the 21st Century | Professor Larry Diamond |
| 2021 | Democracy on the Brink: The View from the Mountain West | Pollster Celinda Lake |
| 2022 | Beyond Left and Right: Democracy in the 21st Century | Nina Jankowitcz |
| 2023 | Securing America’s Future: Rebuilding Trust | Gina Bennett (CIA), Author James Risen |