Dr. Stevan Rapaić, a research fellow at the Institute of International Politics and Economics, was in March and April in Bangkok, where he was a visiting professor at the International College of the National Institute for Development Administration (ICO NIDA University). During this period, Dr. Rapaić lectured master courses Public Policy, Advocacy, Social Change, and Philanthropy, and Managing Local Government. Dr. Rapaić went to ICO NIDA on the personal invitation from the dean of ICO NIDA, Professor Piboon Puriveth. Dr. Rapaić used the opportunity to present to the distinguished dean and his colleagues the activities and mission of the Institute of International Politics and Economics. Dean Puriveth expressed gratitude and interest in further expanding cooperation with the Institute for International Politics and Economics. At present, NIDA is a state-supported graduate institution with university status, and it is one of very few higher education institutions in Thailand that offer exclusively graduate degree programs. The National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) was established in 1966 following His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s vision of advancing Thailand’s development with financial support from the prestigious Ford Foundation in the US and academic assistance from the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities (MUCIA), the official accrediting organization of all US institutions of higher education. Under benevolent auspices of His Majesty the King, NIDA exists and stands today as Thailand’s leading educational institution concentrating exclusively on graduate studies in fields related to business and national development.
