As a student at Bishop Amat High School, Carlos Pascual never had an A-minus.

"Only all-A's --- and he took full honors courses," said Dr. Merritt Hemenway, principal of the La Puente school, of his former student who last week was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.

This week, Hemenway warmly recalled the nominee, a veteran U.S. diplomat who graduated in Bishop Amat's class of 1976, and who Hemenway taught in 11th and 12th grade math.

"We always knew Carlos was destined for greatness and we have proudly followed his career with the State Department," Hemenway told The Tidings. "He was one of those special kids who come along once in a decade."

Pascual, said the principal, served as sophomore and junior class president, and was in Hemenway's leadership class that he taught for student council members. He was one of three members of the class of 1976 who attended Stanford University; one was his best friend, Richard Guante, who currently chairs and teaches in the social studies department at Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills.

Currently, Pascual is vice president and director of Foreign Policy at Brookings. A former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine (2000-2003) and senior director on the National Security Council staff, he focuses on post-conflict stabilization, international security policy, nonproliferation and economic development with particular focus on Europe, Russia and Ukraine.

He joined Brookings in 2006 after a 23-year career in the U.S. State Department, National Security Council (NSC), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Under his leadership, Brookings launched the Iraq Policy Project to assess current U.S. policy on Iraq and alternative options.

Before joining Brookings, Pascual served as coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization at the State Department, where he led and organized U.S. government planning to help stabilize and reconstruct societies in transition from conflict or civil strife. He previously was coordinator for U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia, where he oversaw regional and country assistance strategies to promote market-oriented and democratic states.

A native Cuban who emigrated to the U.S. with his parents Gladys and Carlos at age 3, the 50-year-old Pascual --- whose mother taught Spanish for more than 20 years at Bishop Amat before retiring --- earned his B.A. from Stanford in 1980 and a Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1982.

---Mike Nelson