When the School of International Service (SIS) first opened its doors to a class of 80 students in 1958, its mission could not have been more urgent. World peace hung in the balance of the United States - Soviet Union Cold War, and the need to preserve human dignity sounded the call for people willing to grapple constructively and effectively with an increasingly complex world. As President Dwight Eisenhower stated so poigniantly at our school's groundbreaking ceremony nearly 50 years ago, the world needed students and faculty who were determined to "wage peace" in what was then a fragile global community.

Since the school's founding, our world has changed dramatically. We have witnessed the demise of superpower rivalries and the accelerated pace of globalization. We have experienced a revolution in communication technology, as well as global climate change. We have seen the gap between rich and poor widen. And we have felt intensifying new threats to individual and national security.

Amid this flux, SIS has more than kept pace. With a dynamic curriculum, an excellent faculty, and a vibrant community of students and scholars, SIS focuses on the most important issues in international relations and seeks peaceful ways to achieve prosperity and social justice.

Today, SIS is a much larger school than was envisioned when founding SIS Dean Ernest S. Griffith sought to build a school with 400 students and 20 faculty. SIS has grown because its founders' vision of educating young women and men for international public service has continued to increase in relevance as the world has become more complex and interdependent. The school's growth is based on the clarity of its founding vision, the determination of its faculty and students to sustain that vision, the quality of tis teaching, research and public dialogue, and its attraction to people around the world seeking peaceful solutions to global problems.

With its success, SIS needs new resources to sustain and nurture its mission for future generations of students. Most clearly, its "jewel box" building, designed for a school one-sixth its current size, needs to be replaced by a much larger state-of-the-art facility. Equally important, we need to provide SIS students with additional financial assistance, especially those with need and thoese with stellar academic accomplishments. Support is also needed for the development of our faculty. The SIS faculty engages in innovative teaching and cutting-edge scholarship, and it constantly develops programs that enhance student education and enrich career opportunities.

Through AnewAU, our goal is to generate $25 million in private support for SIS. These resources will allow us to attract excellent students and faculty in the years ahead and strengthen our school in a variety of ways:

• Build a 70,000 sqaure-foot, environmentally friendly SIS building on AU's main campus
• Provide critical financial aid for SIS' exceptional students
• Endow support for new SIS programs that meet emerging needs and challenges

The School of International Service is a singularly successful institution - one that provides the hightest quality international relations education. As a graduate or friend of SIS, you are uniquely aware of the profound impact the school has had on your life, and on the lives of others in the SIS community. I invite you to demonstrate your commitment by making a contribution that will help us build a new SIS.

Louis W. Goodman
Dean, School of International Service