Name change for OIR reflects Smithsonian’s global focus

Deputy Secretary Meroë  Park announced earlier this week that the Smithsonian’s Office of International Relations has changed its name to the Office of Global Affairs.

Since its founding, the Smithsonian has been an inherently global organization. Today, our international reach includes research, programs, partnerships, and knowledge exchanges in and with more than 100 countries around the globe. We welcome hundreds of foreign research fellows, interns, delegations, and other professionals to our museums and research centers each year, enriching our community with a diversity of perspectives and building our vast global network of expert colleagues and partners. OIR has shepherded our institutional global strategy, established internal policy, and stewarded key engagements and activities while supporting SI-wide and unit-level international projects, programs, and outreach efforts. OIR worked with colleagues across nearly every unit in the development of the Institution’s inaugural International Strategic Framework, which articulates our goals, objectives, and strategic areas of work in the world; and most recently they spearheaded the signing of a milestone agreement with the U.S, Department of State that will create a wealth of new opportunities for collaboration, exchange, and amplification of the Smithsonian’s unparalleled expertise.

“Given the Smithsonian’s increasingly complex and important global footprint, the office’s role within the Institution and the support it provides to units has evolved significantly over the last few years to include identifying partnership and sponsorship opportunities; supporting and streamlining global operations, such as through the central Global Activities Committee; and integrating Smithsonian thought leadership into critical global convenings, such as the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28,” Park said. “This new name will better reflect the office’s current purpose and align it with counterpart offices with our peer and partner organizations. Despite the name change, the office’s mandate and portfolio will not change.”

To learn more about OGA and how the office supports our global work, visit their Prism site https://sinet.sharepoint.com/sites/Prism-OGA or reach out to global@si.edu.

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