WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies has announced that publisher and diplomat Philip Merrill has committed $4 million to the school to establish the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies.
The new center will strengthen and expand SAIS's Strategic Studies Program, which focuses on the role and nature of military force in world politics.
Merrill said his goal is for the Strategic Studies Program at SAIS to become the best of its kind in the world. His philanthropy -- through the Merrill Family Foundation that is headed by his wife, Eleanor -- has focused on "making transformational gifts by investing substantial money in relatively small programs under outstanding management and lifting them to excellence," he said.
Merrill is a Johns Hopkins trustee emeritus, and is among the longest serving members of the SAIS Advisory Council.
"With this commitment, (Phillip Merrill) has dramatically expanded our resources for strategic studies, giving us the freedom to use those resources in ways that will make the greatest difference," said SAIS Dean Jessica Einhorn.
The Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies will have two interrelated missions: fostering excellence in national security education and bridging a growing gap between academic discourse and the world of policy, said Professor Eliot Cohen, director of the Strategic Studies Program.
Cohn said Merrill's gift would allow the Strategic Studies Program us to add to its full time faculty, support promising students, enhance an extensive program of field trips and bring visiting fellows to SAIS from government, the military and academia.
The gift was finalized just before Merrill was sworn in as president and chairman of the Export Import Bank of the United States an independent government agency that helps U.S. companies compete abroad, financing the sale of U.S. exports throughout the world by providing loans, guarantees and insurance. It was the eighth time he has taken the oath of office. As he accepted the federal appointment, Merrill stepped down as chairman of Capital Gazette Communications Inc., which publishes Washingtonian magazine, the Annapolis Capital and four other Maryland newspapers.
Merrill's career in public service has included assignments as assistant secretary general of NATO, special assistant to the deputy secretary of state, member of the Department of Defense Policy Board, and a U.S. representative in international negotiations ranging from disarmament to telecommunications.
