University of Maine Foundation

Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, left, talks with University of Maine President Robert Kennedy at the start of a two-day conference this spring in Washington, D.C., "Nuclear Weapons and the Middle East Region: A New Round of Proliferation?" sponsored by UMaine's William S. Cohen Center for International Policy and Commerce, and the National Defense University. Photo by Tracey Attlee   Links related to this story

A decade ago, the William S. Cohen Center for International Policy and Commerce was established at the University of Maine to support scholarly research and activities that contribute to finding solutions to political, military, and economic challenges faced by the United States in the 21st century.

Today, as a cornerstone of UMaine's new interdisciplinary School of Policy and International Affairs (SPIA), the center named for the former U.S. Senator and Secretary of Defense from Bangor, Maine, has the potential to help the university achieve its goal of developing one of the top international affairs and policy schools in the country.

The creation of SPIA improves UMaine's ability to apply its collective expertise to helping define relevant issues and create timely solutions in areas such as international policy, economic policy, environmental policy and international relations.

An endowment for the support of the Cohen Center is managed by the University of Maine Foundation.