60th Anniversary Conference Draws 9,400 to D.C.

From NAFSA.news Vol. 13, No. 21
June 10, 2008

NAFSA's largest-ever annual conference in Washington, DC, drew more than 9,400 attendees from approximately 110 countries to the nation's capital to celebrate NAFSA's 60th anniversary. More than 3,000 participants came from countries outside the United States. About 4,500 of all attendees were NAFSA members, and approximately 1,275 were attending the annual conference for the first time. The International Education Expo hosted 683 exhibit booths from around the world.

Media Coverage

NAFSA’s 2008 Annual Conference received much national news coverage—articles on NAFSA’s 60th anniversary conference ran in The Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) and Inside Higher Ed, and C-SPAN broadcast the opening plenary address by Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, as well as the Presidential Candidates' Advisers Forum on U.S. Global Leadership and Engagement. These broadcasts can be viewed on C-SPAN.org.

Outstanding Plenary Speakers

Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, gave the opening plenary address on May 27 and addressed several questions from members of the audience.

On May 28, a panel discussion was moderated by Judy Woodruff of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and featured Keith Reinhard of Business for Diplomatic Action, Shashi Tharoor, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Pat Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Hisham Melham, journalist with Annahar, Al-Qabas, Radio Monte Carlo, and Al-Arabiya.

The plenary on May 29 featured Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier, who signed copies of his book, A Long Way Gone, which tells how he was recruited at age 13 to fight as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. The 60th Anniversary International Plenary and Luncheon took place on the final day of NAFSA’s 2008 Annual Conference. Keynote speaker Amy Chua, the John M. Duff, Jr. Professor of Law at Yale Law School, signed copies of her book.

Mark Your Calendar—See you in Los Angeles!

Mark your calendars—NAFSA's 2009 Annual Conference will take place May 24-29, 2009, in Los Angeles, CA. The theme is "Fostering Global Engagement Through International Education."