International Education & Exchange: Past, Present, & Future

Where do international education and exchange, public diplomacy, and higher education intersect? How has this intersection evolved throughout U.S. history? And how does the past help explain the current and future states of America’s educational and cultural engagement with the world? Join President Emeritus of the Institute of International Education (IIE), Allan E. Goodman, and CEO of the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA), Clare K. Overmann, in a discussion on the evolution of international education and exchange in America, student mobility trends over time, and the outlook for the next 5-10 years for how the United States engages with the world from an international higher education perspective. Drawing from their forthcoming book, American Odyssey: Past, Present, and Future of International Education in the United States, this will be a reflective discussion that aims to link historical context with where we are today and, ultimately, how we all can contribute to a brighter future. 

October 5, 2026, 12:00 noon Eastern Time
 
The event will take place at noon at GWU's Lindner Family Commons at the Elliott School (1957 E Street, NW, Room 602, Washington, D.C. 20052). For those who RSVP and arrive before 11:40 a.m., a light lunch will be provided. The event is co-sponsored the GWU Elliott School of International Affairs, the GW Institute for Public Diplomacy & Global Communication, and the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy.
 

To register to attend in-person, click here. 

To register for the Forum via Zoom, click here.


Dr. Allan E. Goodman is President Emeritus of the Institute of International Education. IIE administers the Fulbright program as well as other leading scholarship and professional development programs. IIE also conducts research on international student mobility, and responds to crises through its Scholar Rescue, Student Emergency, and Artist Protection funds. Since it’s founding in 1919, trustees, students, and scholars who participated in IIE- administered programs have won 109 Nobel Prizes. 

Dr. Goodman did not expect to have a passport; his aim was to run for Congress in Massachusetts after graduate school. But his mentor, Professor Samuel P. Huntington, suggested a different path and opened the door to an international career and life. Dr. Goodman was Executive Dean of the School of Foreign Service and Professor at Georgetown University. Prior to Georgetown, he served at the Department of State’s Policy Planning Council and as Presidential Briefing Coordinator for the Director of Central Intelligence in the Carter Administration. He is the author of books on international affairs published by Harvard, Princeton and Yale University presses and is currently working on his 20th book, American Odyssey: The Past, Present, and Future of a Nation’s Embrace of International Education and Exchange. He is a visiting faculty member at NYU, the Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Doha, and a visiting scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the selection committee for Schwarzman Scholars, the Quad Fellowships, chaired the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for Saudi Arabia and for UAE, and served as a Jury Member for the Yidan Prize in Education Research and Development. Dr. Goodman acts as an international advisor to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, serves on the Board of Trustees of the Education Above All Foundation, International Law Institute, and CMKL University, and the Advisory Board of the Pershing Square-Shon prize for young cancer researchers.

Dr. Goodman has a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard, an M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a B.S. from Northwestern University. He is the recipient of 17 honorary degrees, the Légion d’honneur from France, the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, the Federal Cross of Merit of Germany, the Order of Isabel la Catolica of Spain, the inaugural Gilbert Medal for Internationalization of Universitas 21, the Adams award from the International Association of University Presidents, and Lifetime Achievement awards from the European Association for International Education from PIE News.

Clare Overmann is the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA), the professional association for international education leadership. In this role, she oversees the strategic direction and growth of the 700+ member organization. Prior to AIEA, Clare served as a senior leader at the Institute of International Education (IIE), leading the organization’s strategic engagement, member associations, major U.S. government-funded programs, and corporate external affairs. Within this portfolio, she also led the growth and transformation of IIE’s Center for International Partnerships. Clare studied abroad in South Korea and Chile, and started her career in the petrochemical industry in The Netherlands. Clare holds degrees from Georgetown University and New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.