The School of International Service opened its doors in 1958 to an inaugural class of 80 students from 36 countries. Today, the school is the largest of its kind in the country, with more than 2,500 students from 150 countries.

Last Wednesday, about 100 distinguished alumni and faculty celebrated SIS’s history during a 48th anniversary gala at the Argentine embassy.

For the last nine years, each anniversary celebration has been held at a different embassy—a tribute, SIS dean Louis Goodman said, to the school’s close ties with international practitioners and policy makers. This year’s event was held at the Argentine embassy because the SIS alumni of the year honoree, Jack Child, a professor in the Department of Language and Foreign Studies, CAS, was born in Buenos Aires.

The evening, said Goodman, was “a joyous celebration of Dr. Child’s marvelous contributions to the university, as well as his many other professional accomplishments.”

Child earned his master’s in Spanish and Latin American studies from SIS in the ’60s, while serving in the U.S. Army. A decade later, he used the G.I. Bill to fund his doctorate at SIS, where he later worked as assistant dean.

Child said the “liberal and broadening education” he received at AU shaped his life and career. It also left a mark on his family.

“Between myself and my four children we hold seven degrees from AU,” he said. —AF