Since 1979, the Rosenfield Program in Public Affairs, International Relations, and Human Rights has been one of ¹û¶³ÊÓƵ College’s signature programs, preparing students for a lifetime of civic engagement and connecting the ¹û¶³ÊÓƵ community to the broader social and political issues that define the world beyond its borders. The program enriches the College curriculum by bringing distinguished scholars, public servants, and commentators to campus; it also provides funding for student internships and sponsors study tours. Rosenfield Program activities contribute to ¹û¶³ÊÓƵ’s tradition of social responsibility and help to build a lively academic community that links ¹û¶³ÊÓƵ students to the world.
Over the years, the Rosenfield Program has brought many distinguished visitors to campus, including Madeline Albright, Bob Dole, Ta-Nehisi Coates, George Kennan, Jane Mayer, Sister Helen Prejean, and Robert Putnam. It has supported student internships at the U.S. Department of State, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the offices of Senator John McCain and Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Romanian mission to the United Nations, The Carter Center, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, the Grameen Bank, the Denver City Council, and many other government agencies and non-governmental organizations around the world. It has sent students on study tours to New York City; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; and Minneapolis to visit sites related to public affairs, international relations, and human rights.
The ¹û¶³ÊÓƵ College Board of Trustees endowed the program in 1979 to honor the Rosenfield family, including one of the College’s leading benefactors, lawyer and businessman Joe Rosenfield ’25. A member of the Board of Trustees from 1941 until 2000, Rosenfield was a leading Iowa philanthropist with a passion for public affairs; he paid the legal fees in the landmark free speech case Tinker v. Des Moines. According to Mentor, a biography by former ¹û¶³ÊÓƵ President George Drake ’56, Rosenfield’s financial savvy and friendship with Warren Buffett helped the trustees to expand the College’s endowment from $78,000 to more than a billion dollars.
Professor of History Edward Cohn is the director of the Rosenfield Program and has held the post since 2024. Past directors include Joseph F. Wall ’41 (1980–85), Wayne Moyer (1985–2008), Sarah Purcell ’92 (2008–17), and Barbara Trish (2017–24).