“Communication is your currency:” USF global alumni Hiram Ríos Hernández awarded the Outstanding Young Alumni Award

Currently an Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, and a career member of the Foreign Service at the U.S. Department of State, Alumni Hiram Ríos Hernández started as an Economics and International Studies major at USF after growing up in Puerto Rico. Since his time at USF, Ríos Hernández has served as a Consular Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, China, as well as a Public Diplomacy Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, Burma. His service in these positions has earned him multiple Meritorious Honors Awards, most recently in February 2025 for his outstanding support of the U.S. delegation to the 2024 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru. 

This year, Ríos Hernández was one of six alumni aged 35 or under who was recognized for his creative innovation and career success by The Outstanding Young Alumni Awards program on April 10, 2025. This program, which was established in 2004, celebrates the accomplishments of USF alumni with an awards event, including a panel discussion and a networking opportunity for students and alumni.  

“Receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award means that not only do I have the potential, but I also saw it through. I feel very seen and grateful that this community still supports me.”  -Ríos Hernández

“When I graduated, I was selected as an outstanding graduate in 2015…and when I think back that award was based on potential, that they saw a bright future and a great trajectory,” Ríos Hernández explains. “Receiving the Outstanding Young Alumni Award means that not only do I have the potential, but I also saw it through. I feel very seen and grateful that this community still supports me.”  
 
“One of the big reasons I even entered the Foreign Service is because of the support of the Office of National Scholars,” Ríos Hernández explains. “I cannot sing their praises enough.” During his time at USF, Ríos Hernández was a Stuart Silverman Endowed Scholar, USF Student Employee of the Year, a recipient of the David L. Boren Scholarship for International Study, Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Recipient, Critical Language Scholarship, and USF’s first-ever recipient of the Thomas R. Pickering Undergraduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship. Ríos Hernández speaks Spanish, English, Mandarin Chinese, and Burmese fluently.   

“I think USF has such a rich environment where any student can become more confident in their skills as a leader,” Ríos Hernández says. “There are many different avenues for students to step up and fulfill their full potential… All the leadership roles I held on campus helped me became a better public speaker and more confident in my own skills. These are things I fall back on every day.”  

During his visit, Ríos Hernández took the time to give back to the USF community by speaking to students in comparative law and public policy classes at the “Bulls In Action” Alumni Speaker Series event. Ríos Hernández and fellow 2025 USF Outstanding Alumni Award winner and School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies (SIGS) graduate, Shelly Marc— a manager of public policy at Meta, who has held several roles in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate and the Whitehouse, and a graduate of USF—shared their stories about their experiences building careers in government service after USF. 

“I was taking classes on foreign policy, which formed the foundation for a lot of what I’m doing with the State Department,” Ríos Hernández says. “Maybe some students think the material is just so high-level and that it’s not going to be practical, but you have to have that perspective to be able to work on policy.” 

Dr. M. Scott Solomon, Associate Professor and SIGS Director, spoke on the success of the event. “It was an honor to host Hiram Rios Hernandez at USF. His impressive career arc serves as a great example of what's possible for our students, and he's just getting started,” Dr. Solomon says. “I think students were inspired by his commitment to national service and were fascinated to hear how you can get from Fowler Avenue to the U.S. Embassies in China, Burma, and Peru.”  

On April 11th, Ríos Hernández joined the Wilcox Scholars for breakfast, where the scholars were able to ask questions and learn about Ríos Hernández’s journey from USF to the Foreign Service. The Wilcox Scholars Program is a new program for Judy Genshaft Honors College Students, designed for students who are interested in civic engagement, public policy, leadership and community service. “Your skills in oral and written communication are your currency,” Ríos Hernández says. “Being able to articulate and speak in a way that is clear and effective can help in any field.” 

“The event provided Wilcox Scholars with a unique opportunity to engage in-person with Hiram Ríos Hernández’s, a U.S. foreign service officer who graduated from USF barely a decade ago,” Dr. Ralph Wilcox, USF Professor and Provost Emeritus, says. “His academic and professional accomplishments along his journey offered those aspiring leaders a valuable glimpse into the knowledge, skills and attributes most sought after, along with real world guidance on how to navigate the demands and challenges of public service in the global context today.” 
 
Ríos Hernández’s advice for USF students interested in international affairs and public policy was twofold. “My advice, especially for first years, is to throw spaghetti at the wall because you won’t know what’s going to stick until you put yourself out there and try new things,” Ríos Hernández says. “My other piece of advice is to be strategic. Develop the core set of skills you need to be successful in your given field and surround yourself with the people that are working in that field or are working towards it.”  
 
Ríos Hernández also had advice for the students who may not have realized their passion for international affairs and public policy until later in their academic career. “You’re not behind. I have colleagues who were former lawyers, colleagues who studied marketing and literature. In the United States, the Foreign Service doesn’t have a degree requirement,” Ríos Hernández says. “We need people that have marketing skills, that have business skills, that understand government, that care about human rights and understand the value of these economic partnerships. We need all of this to be effective.”  

"Hiram's story is a wonderful example of someone who made the most of the resources offered by USF and the Honors College to realize his full potential and prepare him for great success in his chosen career,” Dr. Charles Adams, Judy Genshaft Endowed Dean, says. “As such, he is a tremendous inspiration to the students in the Wilcox Scholars program. I'm confident that the conversation with Hiram will be a defining moment in the personal journey of more than one of our Scholars.”

After finishing his assignment in Lima, Peru, Ríos Hernández will be heading to Bangkok, Thailand for his next position. “I’ll be learning Thai,” Ríos Hernández says when asked how he will be preparing. “It’s not only out of respect for the local community; you’re a more effective diplomat if you can communicate with your counterparts in their native language.”   
 
When asked about the legacy that he would like to leave after his time in Foreign Service, Ríos Hernández talks about the impact he hopes to make. “I hope to make it as far as I can and then try to pave the way for other people like me. Maybe there are other people in parts of this country that have not heard about the Foreign Service,” Ríos Hernández says. “I think we are much stronger as a country when the Foreign Service has people that are from Brandon, FL, and from Puerto Rico and from every nook and cranny of our great nation.”