For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Contact: Jill Leonhardt
Phone: 315-443-5492
E-mail: jlleonha@maxwell.syr.edu

The Maxwell School of Syracuse University has been awarded a second five-year, $8.7 million Department of Defense contract to continue its National Security Studies executive training program for senior military and civilian executives.  Maxwell and Johns Hopkins University’s Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) have conducted the program jointly since 1996 and won the renewal over strong competition from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the RAND Graduate School.  This is the second largest training contract ever awarded to Syracuse University.

Since 1996, nearly 800 senior military officers and civilian executives from the Department of Defense and other government agencies, defense-related industries, the media, and congressional staff have participated in a range of 2-1/2-day, 2-week, or 8-week National Security Studies offerings -- integrated courses of academic and practical instruction providing sophisticated leadership training and development.

Using simulations, complex case studies, and small-group decisionmaking exercises, participants confront the same challenges with which they must wrestle in real life as national security managers and leaders.   Each brings his or her own unique experiences to the program, which further enriches the classes for everyone.   Within the Defense Department, attendance at these programs is considered an enhancement for promotion potential. 

National Security Studies offers access to experts who deeply understand the political, social, economic, historic, and organizational forces that affect leadership style and change within the Department of Defense.  Past presenters include Vice President-elect Dick Cheney, Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell, HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, and Ambassador Richard Armitage.   Maxwell School and SAIS faculty from a range of disciplines provide the core of the program’s instruction, which is directed by Maxwell’s Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy and former Secretary of the Navy Sean O’Keefe. 

“National Security Studies challenged me in virtually every dimension,” says U.S. Air Force Col. Richard Newton.  “It raised my ability to think critically, as well as to ask the right questions at the right time.  The faculty opened up entire new worlds for me across the national security spectrum – from current social, political, legal and defense issues and where they intersect to rediscovering our nation’s foundations and rich historical past.  I am a better USAF officer and better wing commander because of the time well spent with my fellow students and the NSS faculty and staff,” he concludes.

“This is the best course I have attended since the Army War College,” according to U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Gen. Lloyd D. Burtch.   “It is every bit at the same level and provides an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and think with senior military and civilian leaders in defense, state, and economic arenas.  It was an outstanding opportunity.”

Robert J. Krutchen, technical director with the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command, agrees.  “The single most striking aspect of the course is the quality; quantity; and close, informal contact between the speakers and the students.  I personally have never been involved in a course where so many one-on-one informal extended discussions took place between students and world-class leaders who have 'been there, done that.'  I’ve been given a first-hand view of how the national security leaders can, do, and should act at the highest levels.” 

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The Maxwell School of Syracuse University, founded in 1924, is the premier academic institution in the United States committed to scholarship, civic leadership, and education in public affairs and international relations.  It has been ranked consistently the number one graduate school of public affairs in the nation.  The Maxwell School is home to Syracuse University’s social science departments and to numerous nationally recognized multidisciplinary graduate programs in public policy and finance, international relations, public administration, and conflict resolution.  

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., is one of the nation's leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international relations. At SAIS, the wisdom of universities, business, and labor merge with the knowledge and expertise of those currently engaged in government, foreign affairs, and international economic practice.

For more information about the National Security Studies program, log on to www.nss.edu.