Walsh School of Foreign Service

"School of Foreign Service" redirects here. Not to be confused withForeign Service Institute.

Walsh School of Foreign Service

Type	Private
Established	1919(1919)
Founder	Edmund A. Walsh
Parent institution	Georgetown University
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic(Jesuit)
Academic affiliations	APSIA
Dean	Joel Hellman
Academic staff	134 (main campus)
Students	2,273
Undergraduates	1,423
Postgraduates	850
Location	Washington , D.C. , U.S. 38°54′32″N77°4′25″W
Campus	Urban
Website	sfs.georgetown.edu

TheEdmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service(SFS) is the school ofinternational relationsatGeorgetown UniversityinWashington, D.C.It grants degrees at bothundergraduateandgraduatelevels.

Founded in 1919, SFS is the oldest continuously operatingschool for international affairsin the United States,predating theU.S. Foreign Serviceby six years; many of its graduates have assumed prominent roles inAmericanandinternational politics,as well as injournalism,financeandbusiness.

SFS was established byEdmund A. Walshwith the goal of preparing Americans for various international professions in the wake of expanding U.S. involvement in world affairs afterWorld War I.Today, the school hosts a student body of approximately 2,250 from over 100 nations each year. It offers an undergraduate program based in theliberal arts,which leads to theBachelor of Sciencein Foreign Service (BSFS) degree, as well as eight interdisciplinary graduate programs.

History

20th century

The SFS is housed in theIntercultural Centeron Georgetown's main campus.

With the help of Georgetown University presidentFr. John B. Creeden, S.J.,Fr. Walsh spearheaded the founding of the School of Foreign Service and its establishment was announced on November 25, 1919.The school's use of the name “Foreign Service” preceded the formal establishment of the U.S. Foreign Service by six years. The school was envisioned by Fr. Walsh to prepare students for all major forms of foreign representation from commercial, financial, consular to diplomatic.

In 1921, it graduated its first class ofBachelor of Science in Foreign Service(BSFS) undergraduate students.The following year, the school began to offer the first international relations graduate program in the United States, theMaster of Science in Foreign Service(MSFS).In August 1932, the SFS was moved to theHealy Hall,aNational Historic Landmark.

In 1958, two years after the death of Fr. Walsh, the school was renamed after himand moved to the Walsh Building in a ceremony dedicated byPresident Eisenhowerin honor of Fr. Walsh.

Since 1982, the school has been housed in theEdward B. Bunn, S.J. Intercultural Center(ICC) on themain campus.

21st century

In June 2023, the administrators announced the plan to rename the school in honor of the lateMadeleine Albright,who served as a professor at SFS both before and afterher tenure as U.S. secretary of state.It attracted criticism due toAlbright's controversial legacyand the lack of consultation with the school's community members.

Academics

Undergraduate program

TheBachelor of Science in Foreign Service(BSFS) degree is offered by the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. The degree is rooted in the liberal arts. Following completion of the core requirements, students declare one of the following interdisciplinary majors:

• Culture and Politics (CULP)
• Global Business (GBUS)
• International Economics (IECO)
• International History (IHIS)
• International Political Economy (IPEC)
• International Politics (IPOL)
• Regional and Comparative Studies (RCST)
• Science, Technology, & International Affairs (STIA)

There is also a joint degree — Bachelor of Science in Business and Global Affairs — offered in partnership with theMcDonough School of Business(MSB).

Graduate program

Graduate students can pursue eight interdisciplinary graduate degrees in the school:

• Master of Sciencein Foreign Service (MSFS) with concentrations in:
  • Global Business, Finance & Society (GBFS)
  • Global Politics & Security (GPS)
  • International Development (IDEV)
  • Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA)
• Master of Artsin Security Studies (SSP)
• Master of Global Human Development (GHD)
• Master of Arts in Arab Studies (MAAS)
• Master of Arts inAsian Studies(MASIA)
• Master of Arts in German andEuropean Studies(MAGES)
• Master of Arts in Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (MAERES)
• Master of Arts inLatin American Studies(CLAS)

There are also two joint degrees offered in partnership with Georgetown'sMcDonough School of Business.The first is the Global Executive MBA, which is offered in collaboration with theESADE Business Schoolin Spain. and theINCAE Business Schoolin Costa Rica. The second is the MA in International Business and Policy (MA-IBP). SFS is a member ofthe Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs(APSIA), a group of public policy, public administration, and international affairs schools.

Additionally, exceptional undergraduate SFS students can apply for the accelerated bachelor’s/master’s dual-degree program, which allows enrollment in one of the graduate programs (e.g. BSFS/MSFS, BSFS/MASIA, etc.) during the final undergraduate year and completion of both degrees in approximately five years.

Certificates

Georgetown offers a number of undergraduate certificate programs: African studies, Arab studies, Asian studies, Australian & New Zealand studies, German and European studies, international business diplomacy, international development, Muslim-Christian understanding, Jewish civilization, justice & peace studies, Latin American studies, medieval studies, Russian & East European studies, social & political thought, and women's and gender studies.

Reputation and rankings

Georgetown's programs in international relations have consistently ranked among the best in the world insurveysof the field's academics that have been published biennially since 2005 byForeign Policy.In 2014 and in 2018Foreign Policyranked Georgetown's master's programs first in the world and its bachelor's programs fourth.In a separate survey of makers of American foreign-policy from 2011, Georgetown ranked second overall in the quality of preparation for a career in the U.S. government, regardless of degree earned.In 2023,U.S. News & World Reportranked Georgetown fifth for graduate studies in global policy and administration.In 2024,Nicheranked Georgetown first in the United States for international relations.

Student life

There are a vast array of clubs and student organizations atGeorgetown Universitythat students from the School of Foreign Service join. The elected representative organization of the SFS is the SFS Academic Council, also known as the SFSAC. The SFSAC advocates for the SFS student body and works with the Dean's Office to address student concerns, spearhead new initiatives, and coordinate events. In addition to elected representatives, the SFSAC has several committees, including Community Service and Outreach, Special Events, Professional Development, General Membership, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and Communications.

Campuses

Main article:Campuses of Georgetown University

See also:Georgetown University in Qatar

The School of Foreign Service main campus, which is part of the main campus ofGeorgetown University,is located in theGeorgetownneighborhood inNorthwestWashington, D.C.In 2005, it opened another campus, theSchool of Foreign Service in Qatar(also known as SFS-Q or GU-Q), inQatar Foundation'sEducation CityinDoha,Qatar.Many SFS undergraduates spend a minimum of one semester or a summer abroad, choosing from direct matriculation programs around the globe as well as programs of other universities and those run by Georgetown, including SFS-Q andVilla Le Balze.

In November 2023, Indonesian PresidentJoko Widodoannounced the School of Foreign Service planned to partner with theIndonesian governmentto open a satellite campus inJakarta,Indonesiain 2024.

List of deans

Deans

No.	Name	Years	Notes	Ref.
1	Edmund A. WalshSJ	1919–1921
2	Roy S. MacElwee	1921–1923
3	W. F. Notz	1923–1935
4	Thomas H. Healy	1935–1943
5	Edmund A. WalshSJ	1945–1950	Acting dean
6	Frank L. FadnerSJ	1950–1958	Acting dean
7	John F. Parr	1958–1962
8	William E. Moran, Jr.	1962–1966
9	Joseph S. SebesSJ	1966–1968
10	Jesse Mann	1968–1970
11	Peter F. Krogh	1970–1995
12	Robert Gallucci	1995–2009
13	Carol Lancaster	2010–2013
-	James Reardon-Anderson	2013–2015	Interim dean
14	Joel Hellman	2015–present

Notable people

Notable faculty

• Jan Karski,Polish Catholic nobleman, diplomat and military officer
• Henry Kissinger,Professor of Diplomacy, 1977
• Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright,the Mortara Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy
• George John Tenet,Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy
• Victor Cha,Professor of Government, D.S. Song-KF Chair
• Lev Dobriansky,Professor of Economics
• Anwar Ibrahim,Distinguished Visiting Professor

Notable alumni

Main article:List of Georgetown University alumni

Bill Clinton,class of 1968, ran for student council president his senior year.

• Abdullah II of Jordan(1987), King ofJordan
• Sheikha Moza bint Nasser,mother of the Emir (King of Qatar), co-founder and chair of theQatar Foundation
• Adel al-Jubeir(1984) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs ofSaudi Arabia
• John R. Allen,former commander of International Coalition inAfghanistan,President ofBrookings Institution
• Steve Bannon(1983), White House chief strategist andCounselor to the PresidentunderPresident Trump
• José Durão Barroso(1987),President of the European Commissionand formerprime minister of Portugal
• Philip Bilden(1986),U.S. secretary of the Navynominee in theTrump administration
• Bill Bryant,Seattle port commissionerfrom 2008 to 2015
• George Casey(1970),U.S. Army chief of staff
• Laura Chinchilla Miranda(1959), 46thpresident of Costa Rica
• Joseph Cirincione(1983), former president of thePloughshares Fund
• Paul Clement(1988),U.S. solicitor generaland actingU.S. attorney general
• Bill Clinton(1968), 42ndpresident of the United States
• Anne Dias-Griffin(1993), hedge fund manager
• Stéphane Dujarric(1988), Spokesman forUN Secretaries-GeneralKofi Annan,Ban Ki-moonandAntónio Guterres
• Richard Durbin(1966), U.S. senator fromIllinois,Majority Whip of the United States Senate
• Felipe VI(1991),King of Spain
• Luis Fortuño(1982),Governor of Puerto Rico
• Dexter Goei(1993), CEO ofAltice
• Christopher Grady,Vice Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Dalia Grybauskaitė,President ofLithuania
• Alexander Haig(1961),U.S. secretary of stateunderRonald Reagan,Supreme Allied Commander EuropeofNATO(1974–79)
• Daniel Henninger,columnist,Deputy Editorial Page EditorTheWall Street Journal
• Mushahid Hussain,Opposition Leader in Pakistan, candidate forPresident of Pakistanin 2008
• James Matthew Jones(1983), global health expert and philanthropist
• James L. Jones(1966),U.S. national security advisorunderPresident Obama
• Eugen Jurzyca,Minister of Education ofSlovakia
• John F. Kelly(1984), RetiredMarinegeneral, the 5thU.S. secretary of homeland securityandWhite House chief of staffin theTrump Administration
• Kathleen Kingsbury(2001) Opinion Editor, New York Times
• Željko Komšić,President of Bosnia and Herzegovinafrom 2006 to 2014
• Taro Kono(1986),Foreign Minister of Japan
• Gloria Macapagal Arroyo(1968),president of the Philippinesfrom 2001 to 2010
• David Malpass(1982), President of theWorld Bank
• Denis McDonough(1996),President Obama'schief of staffand former deputynational security advisor,Secretary of Veteran's Affairs in Biden administration
• Kayleigh McEnany(2010),CNNCommentator;press secretaryto President Trump
• Maeve Kennedy McKean(2009), attorney and U.S. health official
• Mick Mulvaney(1989), Director of U.S.Office of Management and BudgetandWhite House Chief of StaffunderPresident Trump
• Kirstjen Nielsen(1994),U.S. secretary of homeland securityunderPresident Trump
• Darcy Olsen,CEO of theGoldwater Institute
• Jon Ossoff,(2009), U.S. senator fromGeorgia
• Sandra Oudkirk,first female director of theAmerican Institute in Taiwan(AIT)
• Armand Peschard-Sverdrup,Mexicanpolitical scientist
• Pat Quinn(1969),Governor of Illinois
• Carl Reiner(1943), actor,film producer,film director,Emmy Awardwinner
• Tony Ressler(1981), billionaire and owner of theAtlanta Hawks
• Matthew A. Reynolds(1986), formerassistant secretary of state for legislative affairs(2008–2009)
• Chris Sacca(1997), Founder ofLowercase Capital
• Therese Shaheen(1980), Chairman of the American Institute of Taiwan, 2002–2004; businesswoman
• Arjun Singh Sethi(2003), civil rights writer and lawyer
• Debora Spar(1984), Former president,Barnard CollegeatColumbia University,member of the board of directors ofGoldman Sachs,first female president ofLincoln Center
• Courtney Stadd(1981),NASAchief of staff from 2001 to 2003
• Daniel Sullivan(1993), U.S. senator fromAlaska
• George Tenet(1976),Director of the CIAfrom 1997 to 2004
• Matthew VanDyke,freedom fighter andPrisoner of War (POW)in the2011 Libyan Civil War
• Marcus Wallenberg,a banker and industrialist
• Margaret Weichert(1989), deputy director for management in theOffice of Management and Budget,Director of theU.S. Office of Personnel Management
• Nawaf Obaid(1996), political scientist and former Saudi foreign policy advisor
• Igor Danchenko(2009), geopolitical analyst known for sourcing theSteele dossier
• Anthony Clark Arend(1980), professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University

References

Sources

• Curran, Robert Emmett (2010a).A History of Georgetown University: The Quest for Excellence, 1889–1964.Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.:Georgetown University Press.ISBN978-1-58901-689-7.
• Curran, Robert Emmett (2010b).A History of Georgetown University: The Rise to Prominence, 1964–1989.Vol. 3. Washington, D.C.:Georgetown University Press.ISBN978-1-58901-690-3.

External links

• Official website