Dr. Raphael Cassimere, The University of New Orleans Seraphia D. Leyda University Teaching Professor Emeritus, received the Outstanding Citizen Diplomat Award from the New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council. The award was presented at a reception honoring the council's volunteers on June 26.

This is the second consecutive year that the New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council has honored three community professionals for shaping U.S. foreign relations by meeting with international guests sent to New Orleans from the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Robert A. Thomas, interim director of the Loyola University School of Mass Communications, and Vicki Weeks, executive director of Belle Reve New Orleans, were honored along with Dr. Cassimere.

"Dr. Cassimere has always been generous in sharing his considerable knowledge of the region and its culture," said Susan E. Krantz, dean of the UNO College of Liberal Arts. "I believe that the international guests fortunate enough to have the benefit and his insight and company during their visits to New Orleans have taken home a deeper understanding of this city than they could have predicted. The New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council could not have chosen a better ambassador than Dr. Cassimere to receive its Outstanding Citizen Diplomat Award."

Dr. Cassimere, a native of New Orleans, received bachelor and masters of arts degrees in history from what was then LSUNO, and a doctor of philosophy degree in history from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn. He is the author of African Americans in New Orleans before the Civil War.

He has been a member of the UNO History Department since 1971. In 1984, Dr. Cassimere was chosen as the first recipient of the UNO-AMOCO Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award, and in 1994, was selected as the UNO College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumnus of the year.

In 1996, Dr. Cassimere was among the first recipients of the Seraphia D. Leyda University Teaching Fellowship which "recognizes outstanding faculty members for their accomplishments as teachers and reflects the university's continuing commitment to excellence in teaching." In 2005, he was selected among UNO's all-time favorite professors.

Dr. Cassimere has been active in the NAACP since 1960, and received the A.P. Tureaud Black Citizenship Medal in 1982, the highest award conferred by the NAACP in Louisiana.

The New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council, formerly the Council for International Visitors, is a local nonprofit organization that arranges professional appointments for international guests of the U.S. Department of State visiting Louisiana. Its goal is to enhance respect and communication through international exchanges and to promote the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana as important business and cultural centers. Since Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council has hosted more than 700 visitors from 145 countries in New Orleans to participate in and witness the economic and social recovery of the city.