Educational Commission for Foreign history

1945 - Constitution of UNESCO

1946 President Truman terminates OWI; one section is placed within the Department of State as the Office of International Information and Cultural Affairs (OIC). OIC has a network of 76 branches worldwide; 67 information centers and libraries stock books, display exhibits and show films.

1947 OIC is renamed the Office of International Information and Educational Exchange

1948 International Visitor Program formally established to engage professionals, intellectuals and opinion leaders in the political and social infrastructure

1952 - Creation of the UNESCO Institute for Education

1953 President Eisenhower establishes the United States Information Agency (USIA) to consolidate information functions administered by the State Department and other agencies.

In 1956, a private, nonprofit organization, the Evaluation Service for Foreign Medical Graduates (ESFMG), was established to:

In 1958, ECFMG administered its first examinations and certified the first IMGs.

1959 The exchange function is separated from the State Department’s Bureau of Public Affairs and is assigned to a newly created Bureau of Educational and Cultural Relations (CU).

1960 - Second World Conference on Adult Education (Montreal, Canada)

1961 Congress passes the Fulbright-Hays Act to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

1965 - International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (New York, United States).

1970 - The International Commission on the Development of Education.

1974 - Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

1978 President Carter approves a major reorganization of USIA, combining it with the department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to become the United States International Communication Agency (USICA)

1979 - International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (New York, United States).

1982 President Reagan changes USICA’s name back to USIA

1983 The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program begins

1984 Congress creates the Cultural Property Advisory Committee to help stem illicit trafficking in cultural property.

1987 - International Congress on the Development and Improvement of Technical and Vocational Education (Berlin, Germany).

1989 - International Congress and Declaration on peace in the minds of men (Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire).

1990 - World Conference on Education For All (Jomtien, Thailand).

1992 Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program is established

1993 - International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century.

1998 - First World Conference on Higher Education “Vision and Action” (Paris, France).

1999 USIA moves into the State Department where exchange programs and other USIA components comprise the department’s new Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), which maintains its authority under the Fulbright-Hays Act

2000 Congress creates the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation

2001 ECA creates Alumni.State.Gov to connect exchange alumni in Southeastern Europe and Eurasia

2004 ECA establishes the Office of Alumni Affairs and expands Alumni.State.Gov into a global network

2006 The Bush administration launches the National Security Language Initiative, including ECA’s NSLI-Y initiative focused on American youth and ECA’s Critical Language Scholarship Program focused on American undergraduate and graduate students.

2008 ExchangesConnect debuts as the first social network of the United States government

2009 - World Conference on Higher Education “The New Dynamics of Higher Education and Research for Societal Change and Development” (Paris, France).

2010 The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) celebrates its 70th Anniversary

2012 - Third International Congress on TVET: Building Skills for Work and Life (Shanghai, People’s Republic of China)

2014 - World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (Aichi-Nagoya, Japan)

2015 ECA establishes the United States Study Abroad branch to expand study abroad opportunities for American students to gain critical skills in support of our national security and economic prosperity.

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