School of International Service - History

History

The founding of SIS was urged by President Dwight D. Eisenhower during the height of the Cold War. President Eisenhower's initiative called together thirteen University presidents, including AU's Hurst Anderson, encouraging them to create human-focused international affairs programs dedicated to preparing practitioners for foreign policy beyond the U.S.–Soviet rivalry.

SIS was created with the following mission in mind: to establish a school predicated on service to the global community. In 1957, ground was broken by Eisenhower and in 1958 SIS admitted its first full-time class, thus replacing AU's Department of International Relations. The first matriculating class of SIS consisted of 85 students representing 36 countries.

In 1967, SIS added its International Communications program—the first such program offered by an American university. Constantly adapting to the demands of the changing international system, in 1981 SIS inaugurated the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies to address concerns that American universities lacked an appropriate venue for exploring the greater Muslim-Western understanding.

In the 1990s, SIS established dual degree programs with Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan and Korea University in Seoul, Korea in recognition of the importance of education that embraces varied cultures. In 1991, SIS added the Center for the Global South to raise awareness and devise solutions for the problems affecting the most impoverished regions of the world. This was followed in 1995 by the addition of the Mohammed Said Farsi Chair in Islamic Peace, and in 2000 with a joint program on National Resources and Sustainable Development with the United Nations University for Peace.

New degree options implemented in 2010 include the Global Scholars Program, a concentrated three-year B.A. program, an M.A. program in Social Enterprise, and, through a partnership with the U.S. Peace Corps, a Master's International degree, which combines a Peace Corps assignment with SIS academic work.

In 2004, plans were initiated for the building of a new, 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m2), academic building on the quad of AU's campus, and the building was completed in spring 2010. It is a LEED Gold-certified building, featuring 3,230 square feet (300 m2) of photovoltaic solar panels, low-flow faucets to reduce water consumption, and the first building in Washington, D.C. to feature three solar water heating systems. Designed by architect William McDonough, the new building supposedly reflects the School of International Service's alleged commitment to advancing ecological stewardship, preserving transparency and human dignity, and working for social justice.