B.S.F.S.

The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is considered to be one of the world's leading international affairs schools, granting degrees at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Notable alumni include former U.S. president Bill Clinton, former CIA director George Tenet, and King Felipe VI of Spain, as well as numerous other heads of state or government. Its faculty has also included many distinguished figures in international affairs, such as former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright, former U.S. secretary of defense Chuck Hagel, and former president of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski.

Founded in 1919, the School of Foreign Service is the oldest continuously operating school for international affairs in the United States, predating the U.S. Foreign Service by six years, and is known for the large number of graduates who end up working in U.S. foreign policy. Despite its reputation for producing prominent American statesmen and diplomats, the SFS is not a diplomatic academy, and its graduates go on to have careers in a diverse range of sectors, including Wall Street.

The School of Foreign Service was established by Fr. Edmund A. Walsh, S.J. with the goal of preparing Americans for various international professions in the wake of expanding U.S. involvement in world affairs after the First World War. Today, the school hosts a student body of approximately 2,250 from over 100 nations each year. It offers an undergraduate program based in the liberal arts, which leads to the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) degree, as well as eight interdisciplinary graduate programs.

History

With the help of Georgetown University president Fr. 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 of Bachelor 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, the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS). In August 1932, the SFS was moved to the Healy Hall, a National Historic Landmark.

In 1958, two years after the death of Fr. Walsh, the school was renamed after him and moved to the Walsh Building in a ceremony dedicated by President Eisenhower in honor of Fr. Walsh. Since 1982, the school has been housed in the Edward B. Bunn, S.J. Intercultural Center (ICC) on the main campus.

Academics

Undergraduate programs

The SFS offers the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) degree 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 in Business and Global Affairs (BGA) offered in partnership with Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.

Graduate programs

Graduate students can pursue eight interdisciplinary graduate degrees in the school:
* Master of Science in 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 Arts in Security Studies (SSP)
* Master of Global Human Development (GHD)
* Master of Arts in Arab Studies (MAAS)
* Master of Arts in Asian Studies (MASIA)
* Master of Arts in German and European Studies (MAGES)
* Master of Arts in Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (MAERES)
* Master of Arts in Latin American Studies (CLAS)
There are also two joint degrees offered in partnership with Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. The first is the Global Executive MBA, which is offered in collaboration with the ESADE Business School in Spain. and the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica. The second is the MA in International Business and Policy (MA-IBP).
SFS is a member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA), a group of public policy, public administration, and international affairs schools.

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 in surveys of the field's academics that have been published biennially since 2005 by ''Foreign Policy'' magazine. In 2014 and in 2018 ''Foreign Policy'' ranked 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.

Campuses

The School of Foreign Service main campus, which is part of the main campus of Georgetown University, is located in the Georgetown neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. In 2005, it opened another campus, the School of Foreign Service in Qatar (also known as SFS-Q or GU-Q), in Qatar Foundation's Education City in Doha, 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 and Villa Le Balze.

List of deans

Notable alumni

* Abdullah II of Jordan (1987), King of Jordan
* Adel al-Jubeir (1984) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia
* John R. Allen, former Commander of International Coalition in Afghanistan, President of Brookings Institution
* Steve Bannon (1983), White House Chief Strategist and Counselor to the President under President Trump
* José Durão Barroso (1987), President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Portugal
* Philip Bilden (1986), U.S. Secretary of the Navy nominee in the Trump administration
* Bill Bryant, Seattle Port Commissioner from 2008 to 2015
* George Casey (1970), U.S. Army Chief of Staff
* Laura Chinchilla Miranda (1959), 46th President of Costa Rica
* Joseph Cirincione (1983), former President of The Ploughshares Fund
* Paul Clement (1988), U.S. Solicitor General and Acting U.S. Attorney General
* Bill Clinton (1968), 42nd President of the United States
* Anne Dias-Griffin (1993), hedge fund manager
* Stéphane Dujarric (1988), Spokesman for UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon and António Guterres
* Richard Durbin (1966), U.S. Senator from Illinois, Majority Whip of the United States Senate
* Felipe VI (1991), King of Spain
* Luis Fortuño (1982), Governor of Puerto Rico
* Dexter Goei (1993), CEO of Altice
* Christopher Grady, Vice Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
* Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania
* Alexander Haig (1961), U.S. Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO (1974–79)
* Daniel Henninger, columnist, ''The'' ''Wall Street Journal''
* Mushahid Hussain, Opposition Leader in Pakistan, candidate for President of Pakistan

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