Universityof Denver Establishes the SIÉ CHÉOU-KANG Center for International Security and Diplomacy

New Building, Endowed Chair at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies

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DENVER (August 7, 2009) — The University of Denver and the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation today announced the establishment of the SIÉ CHÉOU-KANG Center for International Security and Diplomacy named in honor of John J. Sie’s father Ambassador Sié Chéou-Kang. Ambassador Sié Chéou-Kang was an extraordinary diplomat, educator, author and playwright, and spent much of his adult life in Europe forging relationships on behalf ofChina.

The announcement took place in front of the new 5,460 square foot building that will house theSIÉCenter located next to Ben Cherrington Hall – home to the Josef Korbel School of International Studies.  The Anna and John J. Sie Foundation’s $5 million commitment to the center will provide for the endowed SIÉ CHÉOU-KANG Chair and funds for the SIÉ Center building.  The building has many Asian design elements, including a roof of blue-glazed Asian tiles and a Japanese-style courtyard garden of rock forms focused on a magnolia tree.

“I am so pleased to be able to name this center and this building after my father,” says John J. Sie. “He was truly a life-long diplomat who made it his mission to understand foreign cultures and to educate people aboutChina.  There is nothing so befitting than to create this center in his honor.”

More than 200 people attended the announcement and ribbon cutting ceremony, including Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper, DU Chancellor Robert Coombe, the Consul General of Mexico Honorable Eduardo Arnal, the Honorable Consul of Costa Rica Tito Chaverri, Charlie Gallagher, Patricia Livingston and Steve Farber.

The SIÉ Center will provide leadership training for SIÉ Fellows—the best and brightest international security specialists and diplomats from across the globe that will positively influence numerous nations and countless people. Ten SIÉ Fellows will be selected to start the SIÉ Center’s first program in the fall of 2010.

The SIÉ Center also provides students at DU’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies a new resource for studying global security, policy and diplomacy issues.

“TheSIÉCenterprovides another opportunity for theJosefKorbelSchoolto build its reputation as one of the premier international studies programs in the world,” says Chancellor Coombe. “Our students will have many outstanding opportunities to interact with top leaders in the fields of security, policy and diplomacy. Like so many of our graduates who now hold pivotal positions throughout the world, they will be prepared to address the great issues of our time.”

The building that houses the SIÉ Center was constructed using the Green Building Rating System, which focuses on the highest standards in energy conservation as developed by LEEDS—Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Significant enhancements to the heating, cooling and fresh air systems in Cherrington Hall will result in no net use of additional energy when the annex is fully operational.

The University of Denver (www.du.edu), the oldest private university in the Rocky Mountain region, enrolls approximately 11,409 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Denver as a Research University with high research activity.

The Anna and John J. Sie Foundation supports the sharing of knowledge amongst peoples and cultures throughout the global community, with an emphasis on Down syndrome, international security and diplomacy, education, media, business and technology.  The foundation is a supporter of the The Children’s Hospital, the University of Colorado’s “The Sie Family Down Syndrome Break-Through Research Initiative,” the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies, the Denver Art Museum, the Starz Film Center, and numerous other civic, social and educational institutions.

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