Renaming captures the inspirational work of Korbel— father of Madeleine Albright and mentor to Condoleezza Rice—and signals the Josef Korbel School of International Studies’ continuing commitment to educate global leaders.

The University of Denver today (May 28) renamed the Graduate School of International Studies the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, honoring Josef Korbel, the former Czechoslovakian diplomat, scholar and teacher who founded the school in 1964. The dedication of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies marks the culmination of Korbel’s lifelong journey in government, diplomacy and education, and extends his legacy beyond his role as mentor of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and father of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. With one of the top professional master’s degree programs of international affairs in the United States, the school is dedicated to preparing talented and idealistic students for careers of distinction in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

“My father’s work lives on in the faculty and students of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies,” said Albright, secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, principal of the Albright Group LLC and chairman of the National Democratic Institute. “I am confident that their vision, influence and dedication will carve out an incredible future, positioning the school as a place of major significance for analysis of current events and the education of the next generation of global leaders.”

The Josef Korbel School’s professional master’s degree program is one of the 10 best in the United States according to two consecutive biennial surveys conducted by researchers at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, and published by Foreign Policy magazine. In the 2006/2007 survey, the school’s program ranked No. 9 in the nation, ahead of such schools as Syracuse, University of Chicago, Yale, Stanford, University of California-Berkeley, and MIT. In the 2004/2005 survey, the school’s program ranked No. 10. The school is widely acknowledged as one of the most dynamic professional schools of international affairs in the world, and is well-known for its innovative, interdisciplinary programs in international human rights, development, security, and economics.

The school’s rich legacy includes a long list of prominent graduates. Among the list: Heraldo Munoz, the current ambassador to the United Nations for Chile; Gen. George Casey, Jr., chief of staff of the United States Army; Ambassador Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former permanent representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations; Susan Waltz, the former chair of Amnesty International’s International Executive Committee; Pierre-Michel Fontaine, the former director of the Office the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Jami Miscik, global head of sovereign risk, Lehman Brothers, and former deputy director for intelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency; Thomas Stauffer, president, CEO and professor of management at American University in Afghanistan; and Masoumah Al-Mubarak, minister of health for Kuwait; and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rice received her PhD from the school in 1981.

“The Josef Korbel School of International Studies is a global leader in producing graduates grounded in the real world with broad perspectives thinking strategically about how to solve the world’s most complex and challenging problems,” said Tom Farer, dean of the Josef Korbel School. “The school will carry on in the Korbel tradition by providing students the skills they needed to meet the demands of our rapidly changing world.”

Josef Korbel was born in Czechoslovakia in 1909. His Jewish heritage forced him to flee to London after the Nazi invasion in 1939. While in London, he served as an advisor to the exiled Czech president. After the war, Korbel returned to his homeland where he was appointed the Czech ambassador to Yugoslavia. In 1948, Korbel and his family took refuge in the United States following the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia. In 1949, he went to work teaching international affairs at the University of Denver. Korbel founded the Graduate School of International Studies in 1964 and became its first dean. To house the school, the 30,300 square-foot Ben M. Cherrington Hall was built in 1965. Korbel died in 1977. The University of Denver established the Josef Korbel Humanitarian Award in 2000.

Read the DU Today article at http://www.du.edu/today/stories/2008/05/2008-05-21-korbel.html.

About the University of Denver

The University of Denver (www.du.edu), the oldest private university in the Rocky Mountain region, enrolls approximately 11,117 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Denver as a Research University with high research activity.

Contact: Jim Berscheidt, Associate Vice Chancellor, University Communications
Phone: (303) 871-3172
E-mail: jbersche@du.edu