On Sunday, June 9, 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower came to American University to celebrate the groundbreaking of the original School of International Service building. In congratulating American University on the establishment of SIS, President Eisenhower expressed his "good wishes to all students who will...go into the service of our country in the noblest work that our nation can possibly pursue, and that is the seeking of a peace based on justice and the right." In the over 50 years since this historic moment, the School's faculty, students, and alumni have continually embraced this distinctive mission, serving in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors, where their impact is felt in Washington and across the world.
Beginning with our first cohort of 13 master's students in 1959, and continuing through the over 800 graduate students who are currently enrolled, SIS students are the global leaders Eisenhower envisioned. They are White House Fellows, Presidential Management Fellowship Award winners, and Fulbright scholars. They lead international criminal tribunals, found human rights-focused NGOs, and broker international trade agreements. They develop global environmental policies, combat transnational terror and corruption, and use diplomacy to find nonviolent solutions to ongoing disputes.
Regardless of the path they take, or how they choose to serve, SIS students engage in the distinctive opportunities provided by our Washington, DC location. Global leaders working in or visiting Washington also recognize SIS's engaged community of students and scholars and visit campus for numerous interactive conferences and events. Notably, President Barack Obama's candidacy was endorsed by Senator Ted Kennedy at AU in 2008.
Eisenhower and former AU president Hurst Anderson envisioned SIS as a place that would "assume the responsibility" of preparing committed international leaders. Current AU president Neil Kerwin believe that SIS has "since grown to a level of prominence and achievement that would have overwhelmed even those visionaries." Because of our dynamic community, SIS's distinctive history is a robust living history, sustained and embodied by the students, faculty, and alumni who have and continue to pass through its doors.
