Paul H. Nitze Professorship in International Politics

In his more than 50 years of public service, PAUL H. NITZE advised U.S. presidents from Roosevelt to Reagan and was a primary shaper of U.S. Cold War policy, the Marshall Plan, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He considered the co-founding of SAIS his greatest accomplishment. Ambassador Nitze authored numerous books and articles on international affairs and arms control and served in several high-ranking government posts, including as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, secretary of the Navy under President John F. Kennedy, deputy secretary of defense, and U.S. delegate to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union. President Ronald Reagan appointed him ambassador-at-large, a position he held until his retirement from the State Department in 1989. The SAIS building on Massachusetts Avenue was named in honor of Ambassador and Mrs. Nitze and, in 1989, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies was named in his honor. At SAIS’s 60th anniversary in October 2004, just before Ambassador Nitze’s death at age 97, Secretary of State Colin Powell paid tribute to his friend, saying “meeting with Paul was like having Moses at the table.”

PHYLLIS NITZE was a longtime generous supporter of the university and, in particular, the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. She died in 1987.

CHAIRHOLDER TO BE NAMED