Honoring A Global Vision: Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs
New School Trustee Julien J. Studley has announced a gift of $3 million to the Milano School’s International Affairs program. To honor his six decades of service to and support of The New School, the program will now be known as the Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs.
According to an email from President David Van Zandt to The New School for Public Engagement community, “In the past decade, the leadership provided by founding director Michael Cohen and the program faculty has attracted nearly 1,200 students from 62 countries and brought The New School to a position of prominence in international affairs education. Julien’s gift recognizes and builds on that achievement.”
Studley’s gift will enhance the program’s international research profile in areas such as urban futures, human rights, and international development, as well as the Observatory on Latin America’s study of the region’s economic and political future.
The gift will also provide support for hands-on student learning opportunities like the International Field Program.
“The cornerstone of global understanding is education—particularly the socially engaged education that distinguishes The New School,” says Studley. “That’s why I am proud of my decades of involvement with The New School, both as a supporter and as a student.”
Studley’s commitment to global development and international relations education is informed by his childhood and youth: he and his family came to the United States in 1943, after fleeing Nazi-occupied Belgium and France through Cuba. Havana’s diverse and inclusive culture proved formative for Studley, and ignited in him a lifelong interest in Latin American society and politics, as well as an abiding belief in tolerance. In 1945, Studley’s family gained entry to the United States. Beginning in New York as a diamond-cutter (a trade he had learned in Cuba) Studley became one of the city’s most influential real estate developers. His career is the focus of the 2004 biography Shaping the Skyline: The World According to Real Estate Visionary Julien Studley, by Peter Hellman.
Studley’s connection to The New School began in 1953, when he first enrolled at a continuing education student. Having never completed high school or followed the traditional path to college, Studley found in The New School an ideal, open learning environment. In 1987, Julien became a member of the Board of Trustees, and served as its chair from 2008 to 2009.
Through his Julien J. Studley Foundation, Studley has contributed significant support to a variety of arts and education organizations, including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, and the Graduate Center of CUNY, as well as other projects in Latin America and Russia.
To learn more about the Julien J. Studley Graduate Program in International Affairs, visit http://www.newschool.edu/internationalaffairs/.