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Even when the Cold War was most intense, US President Dwight Eisenhower was keenly aware that the United States and the world needed to prepare for a time when the US-Soviet rivalry no longer dominated foreign policy, and the world could focus on enhancing human dignity. With this in mind, he called together 13 university presidents, including AU's Hurst Anderson, to encourage them to incorporate human-focused international affairs into higher education.

Anderson and the Methodist Bishop of Washington, G. Bromley Oxnam, shared a similar vision and proposed that President Eisenhower support their idea: a school predicated on service to the global community. President Eisenhower embraced the idea and agreed to speak at the school's groundbreaking ceremony in 1957.

Capitalizing on the previous successes of the AU Department of International Relations, SIS opened its doors in 1958 to an inaugural class of 80 full-time students from 36 countries. It offered six innovative programs designed to combine a liberal arts foundation with a specialization in some aspect of the international community.

Present Day

Today, SIS is the largest school of international affairs in the United States, with almost 3,000 students from 130 countries. Its 20+ programs of study offer students a wide range of possibilities; its students draw upon resources in Washington, DC, and beyond to complete more than 500 internships a year.

While the school and its curriculum have grown and changed dramatically over the last 60 years, its core values remain true to the ideals established by Eisenhower, Anderson, and Oxnam.