Contact:	Suzanne Trimel				For immediate release
		(212) 854-5573				May 5, 1997
		smt4@columbia.edu


Columbia Professor Named Top Aide
To U.N. Secretary-General

Strategic Planning, Improved U.S.-U.N. Relations Top Priorities

	John Gerard Ruggie, professor of political science at Columbia 
University and former dean of the School of International and Public 
Affairs, announced today (May 5)  that he will join the staff of U.N. 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a senior advisor, beginning at the end of 
the current academic year.
	Professor Ruggie will serve on the Secretary-General's executive staff 
at the rank of Assistant Secretary General during a one-year leave of 
absence from the Columbia faculty.  Professor Ruggie is the Burgess 
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Columbia, where 
he was dean of international affairs from 1991 to 1996.
	He will advise Secretary-General Annan on strategic planning 
issues in the areas of United Nations-United States relations, institutional 
reforms, and relations with institutions of global civil society like 
corporations and universities.
	Professor Ruggie hopes to contribute to a stronger U.N. presence on 
Capitol Hill to build a durable alliance with Congress.  Relations between 
the international organization and the U.S. government have been strained 
by the fact that the United States owes the U.N. more than $1.3 billion in 
back payments.   "Clearly, this relationship needs attention, not only in this 
budget cycle but in the long term," said Professor Ruggie.  "I think some 
sustained consciousness-raising is necessary."
	As a scholar, Professor Ruggie has studied a wide range of issues in 
international affairs, including security relations, global environmental 
policy, conflict resolution, the U.N. and peacekeeping.  His latest book, 
"Winning the Peace: America and World Order in the New Era," cautions 
against America's drift toward neo-isolationism and argues that it is more
 important than ever to reinforce America's leadership role.
	Professor Ruggie has also taught at the University of California at 
Berkeley and has been director of the Institute on Global Conflict and 
Cooperation at the University of California.


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