SAIS To Mark 40 Years At Site In Bologna

By Steve Libowitz

     Turning 40 is anything but a midlife crisis for the Bologna
Center, the European centerpiece of Hopkins' Nitze School of
Advanced International Studies. The center will celebrate its
40th anniversary this weekend with reunions, distinguished
vistors, a convocation, and other scholarly and leisurely
activities.

     "A school that has had such a positive influence on the
lives and careers of so many of its graduates over 40 years is
cause for celebration," said Bologna Center director Robert H.
Evans, a 1960 graduate of the center.

     The Bologna Center was the brainchild of C. Grove Haines, a
Hopkins professor who wanted to provide advanced education for
the most promising students from around the world who would share
each other's culture and stimulate each other's knowledge. 

     Dr. Haines found the setting for his new enterprise in
Bologna after traveling throughout Europe, explaining his idea to
scholars and government officials. It wasn't until he arrived in
the capital of Emilia-Romagna that he found the necessary
components to begin his venture. 

     On Feb. 22, 1955, four professors and 10 students began
their experiment in international education in a few classrooms
borrowed from the city's renowned university, which also opened
to Dr. Haines its vast library collection.

     "It was appropriate that this innovative academic program
was located in the home of Europe's oldest and one of its most
respected universities," Dr. Evans said.

     The center has made good on Dr. Haines' vision. More than
3,900 students from 84 countries have graduated from the Bologna
Center during the past 40 years. Alumni hold positions in every
corner of the world--more and more in economically emerging
countries, Dr. Evans noted--as ambassadors, bankers, diplomats,
ministers, corporate officers, journalists, parliamentarians,
educators, consultants, economists, and even physicians and
clerics.

     Approximately 420 alumni and guests are expected to attend
the weekend activities, joining 40 center advisory council
members, 150 students, Hopkins officials, and Italian and
European dignitaries.

     Central to the weekend's events is the convocation,
scheduled for Saturday. Hopkins president William C. Richardson
will present honorary degrees to Austrian foreign minister Alois
Mock, who attended the Bologna Center in 1958, and Antonio Fazio,
governor of the Bank of Italy.

     During the weekend, guests will be able to wander through a
photographic and cultural exhibit covering the center's history,
including photographs, newspaper clippings of school events
juxtaposed with world events, and commentary. Curator for the
exhibit is resident assistant professor of history Thomas Row, a
man who has grown up at Hopkins, earning his bachelor's, master's
and doctoral degrees from the university as well as serving on
its faculty. 

     "Pulling this all together has been an event all by itself,"
said Linda Marion, diretor of alumni and public affairs. "But it
will be quite a spectacle."