Kristine Adams ‘16 | International Relations and Spanish major
The Benedictine call to serve is one that does not end when we leave Saint Anselm College. It echoes beyond the Hilltop in every act of selflessness, humility, and hope its alumni bring into the world.
Less than a decade into her professional career, Kristine Adams ’16 has emerged as a trusted leader and policy innovator in the homeland security enterprise. As Supply Chain Policy Branch Manager at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Adams leads a team responsible for shaping aviation security policy across the global air cargo supply chain. Her vision and leadership are instrumental in the current effort to consolidate nine separate cargo security programs into a single, unified U.S. National Cargo Security Program, streamlining regulatory burden while strengthening national security. For her outstanding professional accomplishments, her leadership in public service, and her embodiment of Anselmian values in action, Adams received the 2025 Young Alumni Achievement Award.
Beyond the friendships, memories, and curriculum, Saint Anselm College gave Adams a lasting sense of purpose. The most important insight she carried with her past commencement are that of the Benedictine and Anselmian values. Adams believes that these values, especially service, are not just ideas in the Rule of Saint Benedict or concepts for a first-year humanities exam, but intentional disciplines to be practiced even when it is hard or inconvenient. Adams engages these values even when it would be easier to stay quiet or ignore injustice. She believes service is something that people owe to their neighbors, even when they have never met them or disagree with, most especially when they disagree.
“The Benedictine call to serve is one that does not end when we leave Saint Anselm,” says Adams. “It echoes beyond the Hilltop in every act of selflessness, humility, and hope its alumni bring into the world.”
Adams considers Saint Anselm to be at the cornerstone of so much of who she is and the source of some of the happiest days of her life. It was in the New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP) that she first caught the bug for international relations and civic engagement. At the top of the hill in the Abbey Church, Adams made lifelong friends, those of which became her bridesmaids and even her husband. In the classroom, on Anselmian B.R.E.A.K. trips, and in international field research, Adams learned both invaluable lessons and fun facts to liven up her conversations at D.C. cocktail receptions.
Given the increasing difficulty of working in or advocating for public service in Washington, D.C. as of late, Adams shares that it is challenging to live up to the profound responsibility of government work. “Serving one’s country can sometimes be seen as naïve or even suspect, rather than the calling it is for many,” she says.
Given that, Adams is deeply grateful and flattered to have received the Young Alumni Achievement Award. She believes this is a timely and deeply appreciated affirmation, not just of the counterterrorism and international coalition-building work she has been privileged to do on behalf of the American people, but of the belief that humble service, rooted in faith and community, still matters.
“It is an incredible, full-circle moment that I am truly blessed to experience,” says Adams. “I went from handing out programs as a Kevin B. Harrington Student Ambassador to now accepting an award for my federal career.I am particularly grateful to my husband, parents, grandparents, and NHIOP Executive Director Neil Levesque, who nominated me for this honor. I am even more grateful to the Class of 2016, my advisors, Professor Jaime Orrego and Professor Peter Josephson, and to Professor Erik Cleven and Professor Emerita Barbara Baudot, who helped shape the public servant I am today.”
Adapted from Kristine Adams’s Alumni Award acceptance speech and 2025 Alumni Award citations.