Institute of International Education
The Institute of International Education is an organization that works on a 'not-for-profit' basis. It promotes international exchange of education and training allowing people to experience various types of cultures and education systems. Established in 1919 in the United States, some of the sponsors of the organization have been eminent organizations like the US State Department, US Department of Energy, World Bank, Governments of Brazil, China, Japan and Spain, Levi Strauss, Goldmann Sachs Foundation, Ford Corporation and various other companies too.
The Institute of International Education has more than 7 offices in the United States and 13 offices across various countries in the world. The organization is in the business of exchanging people and ideas across the world. It creates programs for study and training for students, professionals and educators too. Some of the flagship programs include the Fulbright Program and the Gilman Scholarships that are administered by the State Department.
Some of the areas that the organization operates in include managing fellowships and scholarships, development of leaders, assisting students and scholars in crisis situations, providing educational service, building a higher and better education capacity and promoting international development.
The IIE has more than 200 programs that help enhance education, learning and exchange of ideas across the world. The governance of the organization is in the hands of a board of trustees who have come together from various fields and areas of expertise. There are also people from various colleges, universities and institutions that are part of the board.
There is also an advisory body that is spread across the various regions where the organization operates in order to provide insights into the headquarters about the needs and requirements of the region. Over the years, the organization has also set up various awards and honors that are presented to those who make outstanding contributions in the field of exchanging ideas.
Purpose
The Institute of International Education believes in creating a feeling of mutual understanding, appreciation and trust and believes that this is something that is possible only by achieving a better understanding of the various nations. As people who appreciate various cultures and ideologies become global leaders, the world is likely to be a better and more peaceful place.
The Institute of International Education aims at achieving this peace through educational exchanges and by providing people to live in different countries so that they can understand the real environment that exists elsewhere in the world. The vision of 'Opening Minds to the World' is the driving force behind all the educational programs and exchanges that are initiated.
The vision translates into various mission objectives. The institute looks at promoting educational relations between the United Stated and other countries. There are attempts made to link and bond institutions of higher learning in order to reduce replications and rework. The organization also helps in rescuing scholars that are under threat or those who seem to be in crisis.
The core values of the Institute of International Education include integrity, excellence, global awareness, professionalism, collaboration and service. All the actions of the organization are honest and the institute is accountable for every penny that they spend. It also tries to achieve a global diversity among the staff that is hired by the institute itself so that global awareness can start right from the offices of Institute of International Education.
Working together, tapping into collective wisdom, respecting other individuals and their point of view, showing passion, innovation and commitment and demonstrating flexibility, reliability and dedication are part of what the Institute of International Education stands for. With the various programs that the Institute of International Education runs, they are on the right path to achieve these goals.
History
The Institute of International Education was established in 1919 by Nobel Peace Prize winner Nicholas Murray Butler, Elihu Root and Stephan Duggan. Butler was then the President of Columbia University, Root a former Secretary of State and Duggan was a senior professor of political science at the college of the City of New York. Duggan was also the first president of the Institute of International Education.
The founders of the Institute of International Education believed that long term and lasting peace was not possible without deep understanding of nations, something that international educational exchange could ensure. The first step towards this goal was to start organizing student, teacher and faculty exchange programs with European governments. A new category of non-immigrant student visas was created. This bypassed the quotas that were set by the Immigration Act of 1921.
In the 1930s there was an Emergency Committee that was created to aid displaced German scholars. This initiative helped eminent personalities like Martin Buber, Paul Tillich and Jacques Maritain. The 1940s saw the inception of NAFSA, Association of International Educators and Council on International Educational Exchange. This was also the decade when the Institute of International Education was called upon to administer the State managed Fulbright Program.
In 1950, the Institute of International Education extended its arms and reached out to various other regions such as Asia, Africa and Latin America. It provided aid to 700 Hungarian refugee students and provided them scholarships to study in America. "Open Doors", an annual statistical report on the foreign students present in the United States was also started.
Overseas offices were opened in Asia, Africa and Latin America in 1960s and many Venezuelan students were allowed to study in the US in the 1970s. The New York headquarters were opened sometime in the 1980s and new offices were opened in Budapest and Hanoi in the 1990s. The Ford International Fellowship Foundation, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program and the Scholar rescue fund were some of the initiatives in this century.
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