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Donors
Donors (1)
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Karen Laino Giannuzzi '71
Karen Laino graduated from Mary Washington College with a bachelor's degree in German in 1971. After graduation, she accepted a commission in the United States Marine Corps. During her almost 10-year career with the Marine Corps, Karen often spearheaded jobs that had never been done by women. She left the Marine Corps in June 1979 as the first woman commanding officer of a Fleet Marine Forces Company. The following year Karen was recommissioned in the US Navy as a Lieutenant Commander cryptologist. In her 21-year career with the Navy, she spent several tours as a commanding officer and Inspector General, traveling to cryptologic sites worldwide. Just after 9/11, with almost 30 years of service, she retired as the senior Navy Captain in cryptology. Retirement did not last long for Karen and she was immediately selected to the Senior Executive Service for the Department of Defense where she served in a Legislative Affairs position assigned to the US Senate and later as the Director of Intelligence Programs for the National Security Council. She transferred to SHAPE (Supreme HQ Allied Powers Europe), the military arm of NATO, in Mons, Belgium, where she chaired the NATO Advisory Committee on Special Communications. She later became the Director of Intelligence at NATO Headquarters, Brussels. While there, Karen and her husband Ralph had the opportunity to travel throughout the Alliance and Partnership nations learning cultures and mores from around the globe.
Karen is a life-long learner and earned a Master of Arts in Secondary Education Administration in 1973 from Pepperdine University and a Master of Science in International Relations and Affairs in 2014 from Troy University, as well as extensive graduate work at the National War College in National Security Strategy and Policy. Karen's aim for this scholarship is to motivate students to enrich their own lives with a better understanding of the world in which we live. By making international study available to students who otherwise could not afford it, Karen hopes to promote a better understanding of American/foreign relations and assist future generations of Mary Washington students to obtain a quality education. Photo: Karen Laino '71 Battlefield yearbook |