FSI History
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) was established in the 1950s, to offer a broad based program of professional training for the young entrants to the Foreign Service of Liberia. As an intellectual institute for training and research, the Institute has the mandate to create a program conducive for the exchange of ideas on the political underpinnings of global economic relations, cultural diversities, integration, and the issue of conflict.
The establishment of the Foreign Service Institute
FSI owes its accreditation to the farsightedness of President William V. S. Tubman, Liberia’s 18th President, who saw the need to Liberianize the diplomacy of the country. Following the independence of Liberia in 1847, her diplomacy was largely entrusted to other Foreign Nationals. With this concept of Liberianization, President Tubman negotiated with the Government of the United States of America to train Liberians in International Relations. This was successful when a total of eleven brilliant Liberians were trained by the American Government in Washington D. C. in the 1940s. These achievements of the Tubman`s Administration were made possible through the instrumentality of the then Secretary of State, Honorable Gabriel L. Dennis.
In 1946
A legislation creating the Liberian Foreign Service Institute, was enacted by the Liberian Government.
In 1950
The Foreign Service Institute became acknowledged as a training institution when its first group of thirty students were sent to the State Department in Washington D. C. to be trained as foreign service personnel.
Following the creation of the Foreign Service Institute, the Liberian Government appointed Mr. George A. Padmore who once served as Liberian Ambassador to head the Institute as its first Director. Since then, the Institute has measured up to Government’s standard. These training programs have not only benefited Liberians but Foreign Nationals as well.
During the period 1989- May 2002, the Institute remained closed due to the National civil crisis, which started in December 1989 and lasted for seven years. By June 2002, the Institute was reactivated through the continued task of Minister Monie R. Captan of rebuilding the Foreign Ministry to enhance greater efficiency and effectiveness and also assist in developing the capacity of our Foreign Service Officers and other Liberians who may be interested in representing their government abroad. In fostering this objective, Professor Captan appointed Honorable G. Varney Freeman, a career Foreign Service Officer and internal Civil Servant to administer the affairs of the Institute as Acting Director General succeeding Ambassador Solomon A. M. Sawyer.
As a hallmark of paying a tribute to the great dynamic and progenitor of the Foreign Service Institute, the Foreign Minister Prof. Monie R. Captan with consent of the Liberian Government Authorities and based on his own conviction having analytically assessed the important role played by His Excellency, Liberian 23rd Secretary of State, Gabriel L. Dennis in the formation and establishment of what was later known as the Liberia Foreign Service Institute, declared it as the Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute, immediately following its reactivation in May 2002.
Mr. George A. Padmore
FSI – First Director
This nomenclature has been welcomed by several personalities including intellectuals, prominent citizens and the world-at-large, who hailed the brained thought of the Political Science Professor, patriot indeed, and a diplomat, Professor Monie R. Captan, for reflecting on the good deeds of the former Secretary of State in denoting to his memory and honor such an esteemed value.