Message from the Interim Dean

Message from Interim Dean Shlomi Dinar

Dear Green School Family,

As we begin a new academic year, with all the excitement this time of year entails, we at the Green School continue to mourn the loss of our esteemed colleague, friend and founding dean, John F. Stack, Jr. While there is sadness, it is also a hopeful time as we envision our future and the ways in which we will build upon the remarkable foundation laid by Dean Stack.

I am honored to serve as the interim Dean. I embrace the vision of Ambassador Steven J. Green to build a world class institution devoted to understanding the pressing global and social issues we face as one human family. I want to ensure the entire Green School community – our students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as our generous donors and valued partners locally and around the world – that I am committed to doing all that is necessary to advance this vision and fortify our position as one of the top schools of international and public affairs in the world.

The building blocks of our School are the individual departments, centers, institutes, and programs. While each may have a disciplinary, regional, or functional focus all these units, together, embody our cross-disciplinary approach to international and public affairs education. It is the spirit of embracing all faculty from different disciplines, along with various research agendas and methodologies, that is the School’s strength. We will leverage such diversity to highlight and advance the scholarship produced and the policy lessons learned, as well as enhance our connections to the community, both locally and globally.

It is a critically important time in the history of the Green School. We are so proud to have achieved full membership in the prestigious Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA). FIU is the only university in Florida to achieve this designation and only one of 38 APSIA member schools in the world. We are actively working with APSIA leadership to ensure that this membership translates into real value for our students and faculty through collaborations, connections, and new opportunities with other APSIA schools around the world. APSIA schools have graduated some of the world’s greatest leaders and public servants. We are in good company since many of our graduates and alumni have secured top positions in the governmental, non-governmental, and private sectors.

Membership in APSIA also reminds us that our mission as educators includes providing our students with the theoretical, conceptual, and historical knowledge of their respective field of study and, at the same time, providing the professional and hands-on skills that will allow them to be competitive in the job market and successful in their respective careers. To advance this important mission we will increase engagement with our alumni, further develop our partnerships with current and new employers, and double our efforts to work with our university partners to sharpen our career, talent, and workforce development initiatives.

Next on the horizon is the opening of the long-awaited “west wing” of the Green School – the iconic and beautifully designed SIPA II building – through which we will be able to connect nearly all our students, faculty and staff under one roof, allowing for more collaboration and innovation. Construction should be completed this fall and a grand opening will be scheduled in the spring. We will keep the community informed of this exciting progress.

To all who have reached out and offered your support and encouragement, thank you. I am looking forward to working with each of you to ensure that the Green School’s place in the world continues to rise. It is my honor to serve as your interim Dean, and I hope to meet more of you in the coming weeks and months.