Stephanie Coulson
| |
|---|---|
| Political party | Amarenthian Democratic Socialists (ADS) |
| Rank | 3rd president of Amarenthe |
| Term of office | 24th September, 2004 — |
| Predecessor | Andrew G. McArthur (2002-4) |
| Successor | Incumbent |
| Birthdate | 13th September, 1969 |
| Place of birth | Lanton, Sheffield, Amarenthe |
| Marital status | Single |
| Profession | Politician, university professor, environmental activist |
| Languages spoken | Amarenthian English, Gaelic |
| Degrees | |
| † Subject Laureate, Environmental Science, 2001 | |
Dr Stephanie Alana Coulson, PhD(EnvSc) doge laureatus, MA(PSci), MA(EngWL), born 13th September, 1969 in Lanton, Sheffield, Amarenthe, is the current president of Amarenthe. She is the third person and first democratic socialist to hold the position, succeeding an unpopular conservative president, Andrew G. McArthur, on 24th September, 2004.
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Early life, education and career
Coulson was born into a lower-middle-class family in the town of Lanton, about 40km north of the capital, Mynia. Her father was a teacher and a nationalist, advocating Amarenthian independence from Britain. He had instilled in her the value of learning from a very early time, as by the age of two, she had taught herself to read. Her mother worked as a teacher as well, but left the profession to raise Stephanie. The family moved to Mynia when she was 11 to allow her to study at better-quality schools while her father started a better job teaching at the University of Mynia, where pay was slightly better and helped compensate for the loss of maternal income.
She was never politically inclined in her youth, and only had an interest in the natural environment, until she realised that the reason for such bad living conditions and unsustainable farming techniques was an unstable and inefficient government. She began concentrating her extracurricular activities on learning more about environmental science and domestic politics and finished with top grades in primary school. At that time, none of Amarenthe's universities offered degrees that would hold reputation against other schools, or allow for more job choices, outside the country, so Coulson applied and earned entrance into Lord Byron's Preparatory School in Mynia for students aiming to go to university in Pacitalia. Setting political science and environmental science as her areas of concentration, Coulson excelled through the five-year program at the school, finishing with an average of 98 percent. This qualified her for entrance into her chosen faculties (which required 96.3 and 94 percent averages, respectively) at the University of Mandragora for the fall 1987 semester.
University education
Coulson was a full-time student at Pacitalia's top private university for a total of 12 consecutive years, first finishing her Master's in Political Science in April 1993, magna cum laude, with a successful defence of her thesis titled The Negative Effects of British Imperialism in Amarenthe. She continued with her study of environmental science; after earning her Master's in the former field she, two years later, earned a doctorate of philosophy. Also in the fall of 1993, Coulson began her study of international literature. She finished her third of three degrees in 1999 with a Master's in World Literature from Mandragora, and headed back to join her father at the University of Mynia as a professor of environmental studies.
Recognition of academic distinction
In recognition of her work as both a university professor on environmental science and a tireless researcher in the field, the Pacitalian Universities Guild, a group of 28 accredited tertiary educational institutions in the country, awarded her laureate status in 2001. This status as an eminent source of knowledge on environmental sciences gained her much acclaim within Amarenthe and allowed her to begin pursuing her next goal, to right the wrongs in her country and make it a better, more sustainable and more prosperous place to live. Coulson resigned as professor at the University of Mynia to run in the Amarenthian Democratic Socialist party's primary, where they would select a presidential candidate for the 2004 elections.
2004 presidential election
ADS presidential candidate primaries
The election campaign
Final result
As president
Domestic policy
The first solidly popular president in Amarenthe's history, Coulson is widely credited with successful market reform of the country's economy. Her presidency has marked by an odd mix of state capitalism, welfare socialism and economic liberalism, encouraging, with cautious control and supervision, the growth of industries and of the service sector, while developing and establishing a strong and diverse array of state and social services. Under the Coulson administration, Amarenthe has grown from an unconscionably impoverished state to a unified, strong country with a robust economy and a stable government that is just now beginning to concentrate on opening up to foreign interests.
Foreign policy
Coulson is the first president to avoid developing foreign relations with other countries. Her policy is not necessarily isolationist but rather a prioritisation of domestic affairs and improvement of Amarenthian quality of life. That has not stopped Coulson from continuing warm relations with neighbouring Pacitalia, which has provided financial aid to try and help Amarenthe emerge from its economic and social crises.
Future and legacy
Coulson's legacy as a competent president who brought prosperity and peace to a struggling country has likely already been cemented. She faces an election in two years, likely in the fall of 2008, but Amarenthian presidents do not have re-election limitations, meaning she can serve as many terms as she chooses, provided she is re-elected by the Amarenthian people.
| Presidents of Amarenthe | |
|---|---|
| Rendon | McArthur | Coulson | |
