As part of our Graduate Fellowship Program, the Foundation established the Alumni of theYear Award in 2022. The Award recognizes an alumni member who has demonstrated a commitment to public service, benefited the public good, and personifies the leadership qualities that the Rumsfelds hoped to encourage through the Fellowship's efforts. (Read more here about our previous awardees from 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022.)
This fall, the Foundation was delighted to award the 2026 Alumnus of the Year Award to Sheriff Almakki for his exceptional commitment to public service, intellectual curiosity, and thoughtful community building, both throughout his professional journey and within our Fellowship Network.
Meet Sheriff
A 2023 Graduate Fellow, Sheriff has pursued a distinctive path from STEM education to international policy to the U.S. Department of State, where he currently serves as a Foreign Service Officer. Throughout this journey, he has demonstrated the persistence, humility, generosity, and dedication to service that embody the values of our Fellowship. After earning his undergraduate degree in a STEM field, Sheriff pursued an M.A. in Public Policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, deliberately seeking to develop the skills needed to tackle complex international challenges. At Michigan, where he was nominated for the Graduate Fellowship, he distinguished himself not only through his knowledge and analytical ability, but also through his curiosity, communication, and genuine interest in learning from those around him. Following graduate school, Sheriff achieved his goal of entering federal service, joining the State Department. His STEM background continues to inform his work, allowing him to bridge technical and policy communities and contribute to emerging conversations around artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotechnology, and human rights.
Today, he serves as a political officer in Lagos, Nigeria – a particularly meaningful role given his parent’s own experience as immigrants, seeking to build a life in the United States. Sheriff now finds himself on the other side of the diplomatic table, helping others navigate a system that once shaped his own family’s journey.
Sheriff sharing his insights on AI during a roundtable discussion at our 2025 Graduate Fellowship Network Conference.
Network Engagement
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Sheriff has distinguished himself through his active engagement with our Fellowship Network. He has enthusiastically participated in many network events – building lasting friendships and professional connections. He is deeply appreciative of the mentors and Fellows who supported his journey and is always eager to extend that same generosity to those who come after him.
As one network peer writes, “Sheriff is a true public servant…[he] has maintained a humble, curious, and growth-oriented mindset while striving to make genuine connections with everyone he encounters. We are lucky to have him as part of this network.”
Sheriff and the Foundation’s Graduate Fellowship Program Director at the 2024 Annual Conference.
Award Ceremony
At this fall’s 2026 Graduate Fellowship Network Conference, held on September 17th-18th in Washington, D.C., Sheriff demonstrated his deep commitment to the network by flying to attend in person all the way from his new post in Nigeria. At the conference’s Closing Dinner, the network was eager to celebrate Sheriff’s accomplishments during his official award ceremony.
Attendees viewed recorded congratulatory remarks from his original Fellowship nominator, Dr. John Ciorciari, who shared the following:
“Sheriff understands the responsibility and the opportunity to be on the frontlines of the diplomatic corps and we are very lucky to have him there just as we are very lucky to have him as a part of this Fellowship.”
Sheriff delivering his award acceptance remarks at the 2026 Conference.
In his acceptance remarks, Sheriff spoke about Secretary Rumsfeld’s legacy serving as a source of inspiration in his public service journey and how his participation in the network has offered generous mentorship, important support and meaningful friendship.
He shared, “I was very lucky in that I had people in this community and this Fellowship who gave me so much care, support and advice and networking opportunities that helped me both get a sense of stability in my own self, but also piped me in different directions to help me figure out where I wanted to go next… I never had the privilege of meeting Secretary Rumsfeld…but his memory lives on in this Foundation, in the Fellows who did get to meet him, and the rules we read and the stories we hear…This community and the Foundation and all the public servants who came before me are the ones who put in the hard work, who made it impossible for us to come together here, for us to live in this safe, free country and to continue building towards that vision of a city on the hill, of an America that is a force for good. And I feel so privileged to get to be a part of that.”