Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

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The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (commonly abbreviated SFS) is a school within Georgetown University in Washington, DC, United States.

Father Edmund A. Walsh, S.J. Founder and first dean of SFS

The oldest school of international relations in the United States and among the foremost institutions for the study of diplomacy and international law in the world, the Walsh School of Foreign Service was founded in 1919 by Father Edmund A. Walsh, S.J., a Jesuit priest who recognized the need for a school that would prepare diplomats and business professionals for America’s expanding global involvement. Its success in producing diplomats for the U.S. Foreign Service, which it predates by six years, earned the school the nickname the "West Point of the U.S. diplomatic corps." Famous alumni include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, King Abdullah of Jordan, John Cardinal O’Connor, and George Tenet (former US CIA director).

The Walsh School of Foreign Service draws upon a highly competitive applicant pool that overlaps with those of the most selective colleges in the United States. The school maintains a student body of about 1,500 undergraduates seeking a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (B.S.F.S.) degree. The undergraduate program is intended to provide a liberal arts education in the broad field of international affairs. In this regard, the SFS is not a pre-professional school. Undergraduates may concentrate in International Politics (IPOL), International History (IHIS), Culture and Politics (CULP), International Economics (IEC), International Political Economy (IPEC), Regional and Comparative Studies or Science, Technology and International affairs (STIA).

Graduate students can pursue six interdisciplinary graduate programs: four regional studies programs as well as the Master of Science in Foreign Service and the Master of Arts in Security Studies Program. The regional studies programs include Arab Studies (MAA), German & European Studies (MAGES), Latin American Studies (CLAS), and Russian & East European Studies (REES).

Graduates from the School of Foreign Service go on to a variety of international occupations in both the public and private sectors. Students in SFS have a reputation for being bright, practical-minded, and eager to get ahead in Washington and capitals around the world, where many have reached the highest levels. With its alumni including either a current (Jordan and the Philippines), future (Spain) or immediate past (United States) Head of State for four of the one hundred and three of the thirty most populous nations in the world, and its faculty including three past Heads or Deputy Heads of either Government or State for Poland, Spain and Malaysia, the Walsh School is, perhaps, the most politically connected, if not politically influential educational institution in the world.

The current dean of the school is Amb. Robert Gallucci. Notable faculty members of international affairs at the Walsh School of Foreign Service or at Georgetown University include former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, former Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former National Security Advisor Anthony Lake, Ambassador Donald McHenry, former CIA Director George Tenet, former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, former Dean Peter Krogh, former USAID head and Special Envoy for Sudan Andrew Natsios, former U.S. United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, and former Spanish President José María Aznar. The historian Carroll Quigley was one of the best-known faculty members.