At an October 4 event attended by Hampden-Sydney alumni, students, and friends at the Army Navy Club in Arlington, Virginia, the Wilson Center honored Ambassador Edward T. McMullen ’86 and Ambassador Hugo F. Rodriguez, Jr. ’88 as the 2022 recipients of the Patrick Henry Award and Louise Martin as the 2022 recipient of the James Madison Award.
The Patrick Henry Award is presented annually to an alumnus who has distinguished himself in a career in public service. This year’s two recipients have honorably represented the nation in foreign service.
Ed McMullen served as ambassador of the United States to Switzerland and Liechtenstein from November 2017 to January 2021, and his service has been recognized for strengthening the bilateral U.S. and Swiss relationship to one of its strongest points in history. McMullen has an extensive background in public affairs and public relations in issues related to energy, healthcare, and government relations, and he has worked with clients in public policy, politics, and business nationally and internationally for more than 30 years. 
He is currently a senior policy advisor with Adams and Reese LLP.
Hugo Rodriguez was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as ambassador of the United States to Nicaragua on September 29, 2022. Rodriguez served most recently as acting U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. A career member of the United States Senior Foreign Service, Rodriguez served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Asunción, Paraguay, from July 2016 to April 2019, and as the embassy’s charge d’ affaires from January 2017 to March 2018. His diplomatic career has also included service as consul general at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and as the Mission’s acting minister counselor for consular affairs. Rodriguez has also served abroad at U.S. Embassies in Lima, Peru, and Rome, Italy.
The James Madison Award is presented annually to an alumnus or friend for distinguished service on behalf of the College and Wilson Center. 
A member of Hampden-Sydney’s Board of Trustees, Louise Martin created the David Martin Leadership Program and continues to support H-SC to honor her late husband, David Martin ’52, a former trustee and loyal alumnus who was the founder of the Martin Agency in Richmond. Originally started as a leadership program for freshmen, the Martin Leadership Program has been incorporated into the four-year Wilson Leadership Fellows Program.
In addition to the awards ceremony, Director of the Wilson Center Ryan Pemberton ’00 moderated a conversation with McMullen and Rodriguez on the way in which Hampden-Sydney prepared them for a life of service. The presentation of awards also included remarks in honor of each award recipient, with Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement Cameron Marshall ’12 honoring McMullen, Paul Pisano ’89 honoring Rodriguez, and Pemberton honoring Martin.
Congratulations to this year’s recipients of the Patrick Henry and James Madison awards, and thank you for your service to the College and the nation. Learn more about Ed McMullen, Hugo Rodriguez, and Louise Martin below.
Award Recipient Biographies
Louise Martin
Louise graduated from the University of Miami Business School with a business management degree and retired from Delta Air Lines as a technical writer. She currently serves on the boards of VPM (Virginia Public Media – PBS), GlobalWorx Technology, and RISE (a Mexican children’s refuge). Louise married David Nathan Martin ’52 who was a Hampden-Sydney Kappa Sigma, former Trustee, and founder of the Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia.
After his retirement, David Martin became involved with Hampden-Sydney through a leadership program for freshmen students, which Louise now financially supports in his name. It has now become a four-year program and a great enhancement to the H-SC curriculum. She was an active member of the Wilson Center Advisory Committee and created the David and Louise Martin Endowment, which she hopes will ensure H-S continues to attract the brightest students possible.
Edward T. McMullen ’86 Biography
Ed McMullen has worked with clients in public policy, politics, and business nationally and internationally for more than 30 years. From the firm’s Charleston, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. offices, Ed provides economic development and foreign direct investment (FDI) guidance to a broad range of clients. Ed has an extensive background in public affairs and PR in issues related to energy, healthcare, and government relations. Ed works closely with a team of government relations professionals and lawyers to help clients with investment and economic development opportunities, state incentives, state environmental regulations, and the range of services relating to FDI.
Ed served as ambassador of the United States to Switzerland and Liechtenstein from November 2017–January 2021. He has been recognized for developing the strongest bilateral relationship with U.S./Swiss relations in history. During his service as ambassador, Ed focused on FDI and met more than 300 CEOs and chairs of boards of directors throughout Switzerland and Liechtenstein, building relationships and a favorable environment for economic growth. Thanks to Ed’s leadership in this initiative, Switzerland moved from the eighth-largest to the sixth-largest foreign direct investor in the United States. He is a frequent guest of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
As a result of this success, businesses regularly seek Ed’s advice and counsel in exploring avenues of growth in the U.S. Clients appreciate Ed’s in-depth experience in helping them connect with FDI opportunities. Following the completion of his public service, Ed is now engaged in private equity as a partner in a London firm, serves on the board of a Paris-based communications firm, and serves on the North American boards of several Swiss companies while continuing to build his relationships among investors and corporate leadership in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and throughout Europe.
In addition to his focus on FDI and economic development opportunities, Ed has significant experience with holding companies, family offices, and private equity firms dealing with finance, trade, and investments. He has developed multibillion-dollar economic development and real estate deals, a testament to his skill in connecting buyers and investors with opportunities.
Prior to his service as ambassador, Ed worked in the public policy world as president of a state think tank and established early Washington D.C. contacts assisting the founding president of The Heritage Foundation during the Reagan Administration. Prior to his appointment as ambassador, Ed founded and served as president of McMullen Public Affairs, a South Carolina-based corporate advertising and public relations firm that provided government affairs, grassroots campaigns, advertising, PR services, data analytics, and polling to a broad range of companies. Throughout his career, Ed’s clients have included several Fortune 25 companies and associations operating in the aerospace, high-tech, data analytics, pharmaceutical, finance, and biotech sectors.
Further, Ed’s background in politics informs his well-rounded approach to helping clients enhance opportunities on major economic development projects by building relationships on both sides of the aisle to get deals done. He has served as a policy adviser in several national presidential campaigns, as well as statewide political campaigns in Virginia and South Carolina. Ed has raised funds and served as an advisor for the McCain and Trump presidential campaigns and congressional leaders, including U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham.
Leaders have sought Ed’s leadership on numerous boards and commissions. Ed served on the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, served two terms as Chairman of the South Carolina Endowed Chairs Research Centers Board, and was appointed by two speakers of the House and Governor Beasley to serve on three different state taxation committees. He also served as a board member of the South Carolina Competitiveness Council and was a leader on the nuclear power subcommittee. Ed is vice chair of the Swiss American Foundation’s Board of Directors and serves as a trustee of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Ed was awarded The Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest honor, by Governor David Beasley. In addition to devoting time to his family and his work, Ed is an avid hunter and fly fisherman and enjoys playing tennis.
Hugo F. Rodriguez, Jr. ’88 Biography
Hugo F. Rodriguez, Jr. served as acting U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs from January 2021 to September 2021. He became deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs in May 2019. A career member of the United States Senior Foreign Service, Mr. Rodriguez served as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Asunción, Paraguay, from July 2016 to April 2019, and as the Embassy’s charge d’ affaires from January 2017 to March 2018.
During his career as a foreign service officer, Mr. Rodriguez served as consul general at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City from July 2014 to June 2015, and as the Mission’s acting minister counselor for consular affairs from June 2015 to June 2016. While there, he led the effort to document and gain social service access for the estimated 500,000 U.S. citizen children of Mexican parents living in the country. He previously served as deputy director of the Office of Mexican Affairs, as division chief for the Western Hemisphere in the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Overseas Citizen Services office, and as a watch officer and senior watch officer in the Executive Secretariat’s Operations Center.
Mr. Rodriguez has also served abroad at U.S. Embassies in Lima, Peru, and Rome, Italy. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Hampden-Sydney College.