The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes 91快活林 鈥� Madrid alumni for outstanding achievements in their professional lives, personal integrity and stature, and service to SLU-Madrid. This award honors alumni who graduated prior to 2001.
2024 Honoree
Timothy Gustavo Curtin鈥�('93, '04)
Timothy Curtin, Ed.D., is a foreign service officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development (), the U.S. foreign affairs agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.鈥� He has devoted his career to education and development in some of the world's most challenging regions.鈥�
Currently serving as the office director for education and youth programs in the U.S. Embassy in Juba, South Sudan, Tim has managed education programs in Lebanon, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Nigeria and Jamaica. His work includes initiatives to improve learning outcomes, youth employment, and social well-being in areas affected by conflict, economic crises, and natural disasters. He also managed higher education programs in Afghanistan during the U.S. Embassy evacuation in Kabul; led programs in El Salvador aimed at reducing gang violence and curbing migration; and managed emergency education programs in northern Nigeria during the period that 276 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram.
A native of St. Louis, Tim's connection to 91快活林 runs deep, with ties to the institution that began even before he was born. His uncle, Ecuadorian Gustavo Maldonado, S.J., arrived at 91快活林in the early 1960s after studying in Valencia, Spain. Though Father Gustavo returned to Ecuador in the late 1960s, Tim鈥檚 parents visited and eventually settled in St. Louis in part related to Father Gustavo's time at SLU.鈥��
Tim earned a Bachelor of Arts at 91快活林with majors in political science, history and Spanish, and completed three semesters at the Madrid campus. He later pursued a doctorate in education from Northeastern University; a master's in education from the University of Missouri and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.
Beyond his extensive work with USAID, Tim has been a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Thailand, a Missouri and National Board-certified high school teacher, and worked as both a university instructor and admissions staff. He has also worked in consulting and marketing, but always returns to his true passion- education. His Jesuit education continues to shape his work, continually asking himself how he can positively affect change and help others overcome obstacles.鈥�
Tim's personal interests include completing the Camino de Santiago, and ongoing attempts to remember more than a couple of salsa and bachata steps. He has one adult son.