The Story So Far - 50 Years of The American University of Rome

Published in Italy in 2019 

on the occasion of 

the 50th Anniversary of 

The American University of Rome 

The American University of Rome 

Via Pietro Roselli, 4 

00153 – Rome, Italy 

www.aur.edu 

©The American University of Rome 

Cover Illustration and Design 

by Craig Coulthard 

Copy-edited by James R. Mathieu 

Design by Land Ho® 

Printed independently and bound 

by PixartPrinting Italy 

2

Flag bearers and current students 

at the 2017 Commencement 

Ceremony at Villa Aurelia. 

Photo from AUR archives. 

3

6 

(Image on previous page) AUR 

students at an Art History on-site 

class at the Arch of Constantine 

in 1997. Photo from AUR archives.

THE STORY SO FAR 

50 YEARS OF 

THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ROME 

By Laura Estrada Prada 

Art History, Class of 2016 

Alumni & Development Coordinator 

With contributions by 

Dr. Lisa Colletta 

Dr. Richard Hodges, OBE 

7

Foreword 

by Laura Estrada Prada 

It was an oddly warm November when 

I started working in the Alumni and 

Development Office of The American 

University of Rome (AUR). As a student, 

I had never really been to the President’s 

Office. In a heartbeat, I was now part of it: 

a familiar and yet completely alien place. 

A few weeks into my new job, Maurizia 

Garzia (AUR’s Chief of Staff) called me 

into her office and showed me four scruffy 

boxes that sat in a corner. “Whenever you 

have time, Laura, those boxes contain the 

photographic archives of AUR. It would be 

great if we could organize them. It’s not 

urgent, but when you can, here they are.” 

The task immediately sparked my curiosity, 

but the boxes lay there for months as other 

department tasks were always prioritized. 

Yet every time I glanced over at them, 

the desire to open them and delve into 

the stories contained there was a difficult 

temptation to ignore. Finally, after about 

a year, when talk of the 50th Anniversary 

was initiated, I had a chance to push it 

up on the to-do-list. I was given a small 

room in Building B where I could spread 

out the material and start making some 

sense of it. I called the room “The Cave,” 

mainly because, very much like Alice in 

Wonderland, when I went down there, time 

stopped and I traveled through a rabbit 

hole, eager to understand and connect 

the apparently unrelated images. 

My first Friday at “The Cave” was both 

marvelous and frustrating. As I took 

the material out of the boxes, I realized 

two important things: 1) there was no 

apparent order or reasoning behind 

the documentation; 2) I was not the 

first to attempt the organization and 

understanding of it all. I decided to ignore 

my first realization with the hope that it 

was just an overwhelmed first impression. 

The second realization, though, gave 

me mixed feelings. A part of me felt like 

one of those epic knights at the mouth 

of a dragon’s cave, surrounded by the 

skeletons of those that had attempted 

the same foolish endeavor. Another 

part of me—the adult one—was keen to 

accept the challenge. 

My adventure started and as I grasped for 

any indications of time and space amongst 

the heaps, questions arose, answers slowly 

appeared, only to lead to more questions. 

Soon, as if I had been digging through 

my own family’s pictures, I started to 

understand the trajectory of AUR as if 

it were a long-lost cousin. Like a child, 

its first years were the most thoroughly 

8

documented: the first steps, the first faces, 

the first joys. From 1970 to the early 1980s 

there is an incredible amount of film strips 

and pictures taken by one of our founders, 

David T. Colin. 

In the late 1980s, “puberty” arrived 

and the pictures diminished. Bits and 

pieces of memories and Commencements 

here and there, but no actual visual story. 

It’s only with the new millennium that we 

start having a more thorough photographic 

documentation of the activities and 

people of AUR. 

In an attempt to coherently connect the 

dots, I also looked into the first documents 

available about the University. I had not 

anticipated that the story of AUR would 

turn out to be so much more interesting 

and complicated than the version of events 

that, until now, we believed to be true. 

So here we are. AUR is now in its 50th 

year and this book is but a sketch of 

its growth and trajectory. May this book, 

and this celebratory year, be the initiation of 

a more thorough comprehension of our 

past, so that we can conscientiously 

embrace the future. 

Fontana di Trevi. Creative 

Commons CC0 1.0 Universal 

Public Domain Image. 

9

10 

AUR students with camera in 

1975. Photo from AUR archives.

This book would not have been possible without 

the many people that helped me gather 

and organize the information. 

Amy Baldonieri, who supported every step of it 

and facilitated both the research as well as the 

production. Dr. Richard Hodges, who believed 

I could do it, even when my anxieties seemed 

insurmountable. 

Ellie Johnson, who is my partner in crime with 

all the production and deciphering of AUR’s past. 

Harry Greiner, who is always immensely honest 

and directed me toward ideas that worked. 

I wrote the book with Harry’s voice in the back 

of my head telling me, “Don’t make it boring,” 

so I hope it’s not too dull of a read. 

Maurizia Garzia, who allowed me to delve into 

the archives to look for missing pieces. 

Alexandra Tesoro Miller, David Colin Jr., 

Joan Carpenter, Margaret Melady, Andrew Palmieri, 

Rosa Fusco, Prof. Silvano Susi, Franziska Wallner, 

Mary Handley, and the many others who offered 

their time and memories. 

Dr. Roderick Bailey, Dr. Mauro Canali, Lisette Matano 

and Nathaly Campusano-Agüero for helping search 

and gather pivotal information for the reconstruction 

of historical facts. Last but certainly not least, 

Erin Chase, Abigail Hungate, and Mark Ozella, 

current students and Student Trainees in our office, 

who methodically organized and cataloged 

it all. Without them, this adventure would have 

lasted a century and I would have given up on it. 

11

Table 

of contents 

PART THE ORIGINS 

Introduction by Dr. Lisa Colletta 

Chapter 1: Discovering AUR’s Origins 

Founder Fact Sheets 

Prominent Connections of AUR’s Founders 

PART 50 YEARS OF HISTORY 

Chapter 2: The AUR Identity 

Rome 

A Classroom Without Walls 

From a Study Abroad Institution to a Resident-Based 

University in the Heart of Rome 

AUR Commencement Ceremonies 

A Hub of World Citizens 

According to Myth 

12

Chapter 3: AUR Is its People 

AUR Chairs of the Board of Trustees 

AUR Presidents 

Honorary Degree Recipients Since 1994 

People Who Have Left an Unforgettable Trace at AUR 

Robert Henry Evans 

Terry Rossi Kirk 

James Walston 

Seniority Honor Roll by Years of Service 

Chapter 4: The Locations of AUR 

Via della Mercede, 21 (Colin property) 

Viale delle Milizie, 6 

Via Marche, 54 (Scala B, 5th floor) 

Piazza Sallustio, 24 

Via Sallustiana, 1A 

Via Collina, 24 


Chapter 5: AUR’s Neighborhood 

The Janiculum Hill and Monteverde 

PART THE FUTURE 

Chapter 6: Janus 

Conclusion by Dr. Richard Hodges: 

AUR’s Brave New World 

13

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

THE 

ORIGINS 

14

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Introduction 

Dr. Lisa Colletta 

15

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

1. 

1969 was a year of tumult and change. 

The Apollo 11 space mission successfully 

landed the first man on the moon, 

and Neil Armstrong’s famous phrase, 

“That’s one small step for man, and one 

giant leap for mankind,” entered the 

world’s collective vocabulary. In America, 

Woodstock attracted more than 350,000 

rock-n-roll fans, members of the cult 

led by Charles Manson murdered five people 

in Los Angeles, 250,000 people marched 

on Washington to protest the Vietnam 

War, PBS was established, Seiko sold the 

first quartz wristwatch, the first Automatic 

Teller Machine was installed, and the 

microprocessor was invented, opening 

the way for the computer revolution 

that followed. 

16 

1. Image of the interior of the Banca 

Nazionale dell’Agricoltura in Milan, 

after the explosion - Piazza Fontana, 

12 December 1969. Image shot in Italy 

and declared Public Domain. 

2. Young David T. Colin 

in Capri in the late 1930s. 

Image courtesy of David 

Colin, Jr.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Around the world, the Beatles played 

their last public performance on the roof 

of Apple Records, the album Abbey Road 

was released, the first Concorde test 

flight was conducted in France, enormous 

student protests rocked cities around the 

globe, the PLO (Palestinian Liberation 

Organization) was founded, and a coup in 

Libya deposed King Idris. 

In Italy, 1969 was a year marked by tension 

and terrorism. Throughout that year, a 

series of explosives were detonated on 

trains and in stations. But, on December 

12, 1969, “la madre di tutte le stragi,” or 

“the mother of all massacres,” happened 

when a bomb exploded in the Banca 

Nazionale dell’Agricoltura in Milan, killing 

17 people and injuring 88. Orchestrated 

by Neo-Fascists to discredit the anarchist 

movement, the event ushered in the anni 

di piombo, the years of lead, definitively 

ending nearly two decades of economic, 

cultural, and creative growth in Italy. Before 

these tragic events, Italy was known for 

la dolce vita, the sweet life: a growing 

standard of living, elegant fashion, iconic 

products like the Vespa and Fiat, a thriving 

film industry, and a beautiful playground 

for celebrities and aristocrats. 

in, and a safeguard against the growing 

anxiety and polarization that threatened it. 

Popular lore has it that AUR was founded as 

a “school for spies,” and given the turbulent 

times in which it was established, one can 

understand how the story started. The 

United States was alarmed by Italy’s shift 

to the left during the sixties and seventies 

and was actively, albeit covertly, involved 

in preventing the country from going 

Communist. However, the factual evidence 

suggests that if there was a political 

motivation for establishing The American 

University of Rome (and surely there was), 

it had more to do with spreading American 

ideology and cultural values than actively 

training spies. 

Introduction 

In this combination of hope, energy, and 

fear, The American University of Rome 

(AUR) was born. The brain child of three 

individuals, who all had complicated 

wartime experiences and a love of Italy, 

AUR was the embodiment of the belief in 

progress that the post-war boom ushered 

2. 

17

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

The three founders—David Tyrone Colin, 

Giorgio Alfred Tesoro, and Lisa Sergio—all 

shared the belief that education was the 

only way to prevent the world from tearing 

itself apart for a third time in a century. 

International understanding, firmly rooted 

in American democratic values, was the 

key to a peaceful and productive future. 

All three had also had fraught wartime 

experiences and knew intimately, though 

in varying ways, the realities of Fascist 

ideology and the trauma of war. Also, 

in varying ways, they all understood the 

shifting political sands in America and 

Europe after the end of World War II, 

when old allies become new enemies, and 

political opinions harden into blinkered 

thought, violence, and oppression. The 

creation of The American University of 

Rome was their positive response to the 

negative forces that had shaped their 

earlier lives and a way to “reclaim” the 

country they loved. 

American negotiations with Axis countries 

allowed him to secure a passage on the 

Swedish steamer Drottningholm, which 

sailed from Lisbon on May 22, 1942, and 

arrived in New York on June 1. 

3. 

David T. Colin was born in St. Louis, Missouri, 

with, according to his son, “an itch to see 

the world.” He traveled widely, working as a 

journalist and international correspondent 

for several US newspapers. In December 

of 1941, when Italy officially declared war 

on the United States, Colin was a civilian 

member of the US National Broadcasting 

Company in Rome. 

As an American on Italian soil, Colin was 

considered an “enemy alien” and was most 

probably interned in one of the pensioni 

or hotels where American journalists and 

diplomats stayed after December 11, 1941. 

3. David T. Colin in Rome in 1938. 

Image courtesy of David Colin, Jr. 

18

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Introduction 

4. 

4-5. David T. Colin’s account of the situation 

in Italy, just after his return to the United 

States. JTA Daily News Bulletin, Vol. IX – No. 

125, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, New York, NY. 

19

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

5. 

20

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

6. 

Introduction 

6. Swedish steamer SS Drottningholm, 

Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, 

Leslie Jones Collection. 

21

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

7. 

22 

7- 8. Associated Press, “948 Axis Diplomats 

Sail for Portugal in Exchange Agreement,” 

The Evening Star, Washington, DC, May 8, 

1942. P. A-15. Source: NewspaperArchive.com.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Introduction 

8. 

23

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

After his return to the United States, Colin 

enrolled in the U.S. Army and was sent 

back to Italy as a member of the Office 

of Strategic Services (OSS). In October of 

1944, Colin was captured on the border 

between France and Italy and was sent 

to prison in Munich, Germany. After six 

harsh months in Munich, he was transferred 

to Fort Zinna, at Torgau, to await trial 

before the German Supreme Military 

Court for “crimes committed against the 

German Army.” 

The encounter between Soviet and 

American troops on the Elbe River near 

Torgau on April 25, 1945 saved his life. 

Aware that the Allied net was tightening, 

the Nazi guards deserted the prison 

camp, leaving many of the cells unlocked. 

After his liberation, Colin was sent back 

to the U.S., but when the war ended, he 

headed back to Rome, where he was to 

live out much of his life. His apartment on 

Via della Mercede, near the Spanish Steps 

and the place where John Keats took his 

last breath, was to become the site of the 

first American university in Rome. 

24

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Introduction 

9. 

9 -11. Newspaper article by Ann Stringer. 

“Bravo, Yells Red Soldier.” Winnipeg Free Press. 

Winnipeg, Canada. Vol. 51, No. 180-22. Pgs. 1 

and 5. Source: NewspaperArchive.com. 

25

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

26

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Introduction 

27

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

Giorgio Alfredo Tesoro was born in Rome 

in 1904. He studied law at La Sapienza, 

working closely with important scholars 

and eventually specializing in corporate 

and tax law. His ground-breaking work 

in the new field earned him esteemed 

scholarly and professional posts, but as 

a Jewish Roman and a politically engaged 

citizen, Tesoro watched with concern 

as Mussolini drifted closer and closer to 

Hitler’s views on race and ethnic purity. 

In 1938, with a thriving career, Tesoro was 

banned from teaching because of his 

Jewish origins. With a sense of what was 

to come, he left Italy and arrived in the 

United States on December 29, 1940. 

12. 

12. Giorgio Tesoro and his wife Gilda in Rome, 

September 1978. Photo from AUR archives. 

28

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

13. 

Introduction 

13. “Background of Development of Foreign 

Broadcast Intelligence Service” Memorandum 

presented to Chief, Information Branch. 

Dated 6 March 1946. CIA file approved 

for release in 2003. 

29

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

Tesoro immediately applied for US 

citizenship and to US government positions, 

while pursuing his academic interests. 

His first teaching job was at the American 

University in Washington, DC, where 

he wrote a detailed study of war finance, 

funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. This 

eventually led to his government posts 

as an economic analyst and officer with 

the Foreign Economic Administration, 

the State Department, and the US Mission 

in Geneva. When George (no longer 

Giorgio) Tesoro died in 2001, his obituary 

in The New York Times read: “97 years 

of kindness, loyalty and hard work. 

A beloved father, grandfather, uncle and 

friend. Esteemed lawyer, economist, 

professor, diplomat, Commendatore 

della Repubblica Italiana, founder of the 

American University of Rome.” 

30

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

14. 

Introduction 

14. “Brother Now With University Staff.” 

The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune. Vol. LI 

– No. 128. June 5, 1942. Chillicothe, Missouri. 

Source: NewspaperArchive.com. 

31

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

15. 

Introduction 

Perhaps the most enigmatic of the 

three founders is Lisa Sergio, writer, 

broadcaster, activist, and philanthropist. 

Born in Florence in 1905 to Baron Agostino 

Sergio, and a wealthy American mother, 

Margherita Fitzgerald, Lisa Sergio grew 

up in the heady atmosphere of the city’s 

Anglo-Italian community. Rich in gossip 

and intrigue, the community included a 

mix of academics, intellectuals, artists, 

and wealthy aristocrats. In 1922, when 

she was 17, her parents divorced after her 

father attempted to shoot her mother. 

32 

15. Lisa Sergio’s Tesserino dei Giornalisti. 

Image from Lisa Sergio papers, Booth Family Center 

for Special Collections, Georgetown University Library, 

Washington, DC.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

As a young woman she claimed to have 

translated some works of Aldous Huxley 

and D.H. Lawrence into Italian. She 

eventually became the editor of Italian 

Mail, the only English language weekly in 

Italy. In 1929, she moved to Rome after 

falling in love with a much older man. 

female broadcaster in Italy and Mussolini’s 

official English translator. The position 

gave her access to high-ranking Fascist 

officials and inside information about 

the regime. In the spring of 1937, Sergio 

was fired from the Office of Press 

and Propaganda in Rome. 

In Rome, Sergio was in contact with 

individuals like Guglielmo Marconi, 

inventor of radio and known worldwide 

for his work in long-distance radio 

transmission. Marconi connected her with 

the Italian Fascist government and Sergio 

was eventually hired by the Italian Ministry 

of Propaganda to translate newspaper 

items into French and English for a 

15-minute daily news program. Known as 

“the golden voice of Rome,” Sergio became 

an international sensation as the first 

There are two different stories about 

how and why Sergio left Italy for the 

United States. Sergio’s version was that 

her dismissal was primarily due to her 

broadcasting omissions and ideological 

differences with the regime. However, 

according to Sergio’s FBI file, she lost her 

position because she was too vocal about 

her relationship with Galeazzo Ciano 

(Mussolini’s son-in-law) and other Fascist 

officials. Regardless of the true reason, Lisa 

Sergio left Naples for the United States 

on June 27, 1937. 

Introduction 

16. 

16. Lisa Sergio and her colleagues at the Ente 

Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche (EIAR), 

Rome, 1936. Photo printed by Studio Vasari 

Roma. Image from Lisa Sergio papers, Booth 

Family Center for Special Collections, 

Georgetown University Library, Washington, DC. 

33

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

17. 

Introduction 

By the time Lisa arrived in the United 

States, her political beliefs had shifted 

dramatically, and she became an advocate 

of democracy and a strong anti-Fascist. 

She explained her change of heart in a note 

from 1937: "Human beings are not born 

knowing. They are endowed, from birth 

with the capacity to learn. They learn to 

walk, to talk. We must also learn how to 

be free." Despite what is in her FBI file, 

Sergio’s ideological change of heart was 

genuine, and she spent the rest of her 

life fervently working for democratic 

ideals and against Fascism in all its forms 

even those that stalk democracies. 

She became a vocal supporter of 

education, women’s rights, and special 

target of Senator Joseph McCarthy. 

After moving to the United States, Sergio 

worked for NBC (National Broadcasting 

Company), but she quickly became 

frustrated because she believed that 

“NBC was not about to allow a woman to 

do news.” In 1939, she was hired by WQXR 

(an AM radio station licensed in New York 

City from December 1936 to November 

1992) as a news commentator, developing 

her program “Column of the Air,” which 

focused on the crisis in Europe. When asked 

about being a woman in a man’s world of 

news broadcasting, Sergio wrote, “Here, 

too, women can claim and hold a place. 

If men and women are equally needed 

in the war effort, as they indubitably are, 

if men and women the world over are 

bearing the tragic burden of a war without 

quarter, as they are, it follows that men 

and women can equally contribute to 

the understanding of issues at stake and 

of the sometimes baffling trend of the 

events which affect us.” 

34 

17. Lisa Sergio’s visa for entry into the United States in 1937. 

Lisa Sergio papers, Booth Family Center for Special Collections, 

Georgetown University Library, Washington, DC.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

18. 

Introduction 

“Column of the Air” broadcast seven times 

a week from 1939 to 1946, when WQXR 

cancelled it. Sergio was blacklisted by the 

American Legion in 1949 and listed in the 

anti-communist publication Red Channels: 

The Report of Communist Influence in 

Radio and Television in 1950. During the 

McCarthy era she was unable to work 

in broadcasting, and she eventually 

became a visiting professor and lecturer for 

several universities. Sergio also became very 

active in human rights organizations and 

in The Society for the Prevention of World 

War III. For Sergio, the responsibility of 

learning how to think and the liberation 

that comes with knowledge would 

eventually inspire her to help found The 

American University of Rome. 

Rome met through connections in the 

political and cultural world, and their 

love of Italy certainly put them in the 

same orbit. More importantly though, 

their post-war commitment to building a 

better world, to promoting international 

understanding, and to educating young 

people to learn how to be free meant that 

they were involved in similar activities. 

Archival evidence shows that the three 

founders of The American University of 

18. Lisa Sergio (right), Eleanor Roosevelt (center) 

and friend. Lisa Sergio papers, Booth Family 

Center for Special Collections, Georgetown 

University Library, Washington, DC. 

35

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

19. 

36 

19-21. The American University of Rome: a project in the making. 

A vision for the AUR project, prepared by Lisa Sergio based on 

her conversations with David T. Colin and Hon. Emilio Daddario. 

Source: AUR archives.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Introduction 

20. 

37

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

21. 

38

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Introduction 

22. 

22-25. Board of Trustees Secretary William De Paulo drafted a 

Memorandum regarding a personal meeting he had with Giorgio Tesoro 

in 1987. The Memo speaks of a prior document that lays out the history 

of AUR. Unfortunately, the prior document has been lost. This document, 

though, explains that it was, in fact, Lisa Sergio who connected Tesoro and 

Colin for the AUR project. Source: AUR archives. 

39

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

23. 

40

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Introduction 

24. 

41

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Introduction 

25. 

42

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

On the 50th anniversary of the founding 

of The American University of Rome, it is 

important to remember the crucible of 

history in which it was born. Envisioned 

by committed individuals who had seen 

the violence and destruction of world 

war, AUR was an active step in educating 

a new generation of young people who 

grew up in a post-war world during the 

largest economic expansion in history. The 

University’s aim and mission is to educate 

students in an international context, to 

understand themselves and others, to 

work across boundaries, and to always be 

aware that freedom is a responsibility and 

education is the key to peace and progress. 

Introduction 

Fifty years later, we find ourselves on a 

similar historical precipice, where economic 

expansion has made the material lives of 

most people in the West more comfortable 

than ever before. But freedom and 

democracy cannot be taken for granted; 

they need a well-educated, thoughtful 

citizenry to thrive and to overcome the 

chaos of the current moment. The American 

University of Rome proudly carries on 

the legacy of its founders to help build 

a better world. 

Please join the AUR community in 

celebrating its past and embracing 

its future. 

43

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Chapter 1. Discovering AUR’s Origins 

Chapter 1: 

DISCOVERING AUR’S ORIGINS 

In order to better understand the present 

and prepare for the future, in this 50th 

Anniversary of The American University 

of Rome, we have delved to the roots 

of the institution and started to put the 

puzzle pieces together. The journey has led 

us to exciting discoveries that had been 

swallowed by time and forgetfulness. The 

origins of AUR have proven to be an intricate 

web of connections and people. Here is a 

taste of a complicated, but fascinating 

story of a group of people who believed in 

the power of, and, more importantly, the 

need, for high-quality education. 

44

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 


Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae: Plan of Ancient Rome, 

print of engraving by Pirro Logorio, 16th century, the Metropolitan Museum 

of Art, Rogers Fund, Transferred from the Library in 1941. Creative Commons 

CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Image. 

45

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Founder fact sheets 


David T. 

Colin 

1. 

Full name: 

David Tyrone Colin 

(originally Cohen) 

D.O.B: 

June 9, 1912 

Citizenship: American 

Professional Information: 

Journalist, OSS member in the 

Research and Analysis Branch, 

Olivetti Corporation, Founder 

and President of The American 

University of Rome. 

Deceased: 1992 

46 

1. David T. Colin and his wife 

Joan Carpenter, December 1978. 

Photo from AUR archives.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Giorgio A. 

Tesoro 

Lisa 

Sergio 


2. 3. 

Full name: 

Giorgio Alfredo Tesoro 

D.O.B: 

February 6, 1904 

Citizenship: Italian - American 

Professional Information: Lawyer, 

Economist, Member of the State 

Department, Informant and 

Advisorfor the US Government, 

Italian Consultant for diplomatic 

agreements for the reconstruction 

of Italy and the Marshall Plan, 

Founder and Board Member of The 

American University 

of Rome. 


Full name: 

Elisa Maria Alice Sergio 

D.O.B: 

March 17, 1905 

Citizenship: Italian - American 

Professional Information: 

Archaeologist, Translator, Radio 

Broadcaster, Fundraiser, Political 

Commentator, Author and Lecturer, 

Founder and Board Member of The 

American University of Rome. 


2. Giorgio Tesoro in 1942. Image 

courtesy of the Tesoro Family. 

3. Lisa Sergio with microphone 

in 1941. Image available on the 

World Wide Web as an image 

of Public Domain. 

47

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Prominent connections 

of AUR’s founders 


Compiled from interviews with 

relatives or people who knew 

them personally. 

Volterra 

Almagià 

Family 

1. 

David T. Colin is remembered to be a 

charming man. A charismatic American 

and a talented investigative journalist, 

he was known for his ability to make friends 

no sooner than entering a room. Indeed, 

he made very good friends in all types of 

social spheres. Although much research must 

still be done to connect all the missing 

links, it is useful to note certain friendships 

of Colin: friendships that duringAUR’s 

48 

1. Edoardo Volterra 

(second from right 

to left) with AUR students 

in 1975. Photo from 

AUR archives.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

3. 

early years, allowed students to meet 

and talk to important figures from a vast 

range of fields. 

2. 

Edoardo Volterra, scholar of Roman law and 

son of the famed Jewish mathematician 

Vito Volterra, was close friends with Colin. 

Their friendship, though, was not born from 

shared acquaintances. Edoardo and David 

met in the early 1940s, when Edoardo was 

leading anti-Fascist initiatives in Rome 

and David was working for the OSS. Colin, 

who had access to certain goods that were 

scarce in wartime, brought the Volterra 

Almagià family ice cream on Sundays. 

Joan Carpenter, former wife of Colin, also 

recalls how Colin proudly narrated the story 

of how after the war he gifted the family 

a hide of leather for shoes – a rare and 

valuable gift in a war-torn country. 

Jumping to the late 1970s, the friendship 

continued through AUR in two aspects. 

3. 

First, Roberto Almagià (a relative of 

Edoardo on his mother’s side) was a 

professor at the University for several years. 

Stefano Almagià was also a student at 

AUR, starting in the fall of 1975. Edoardo 

himself was a visiting professor, hosting 

AUR students at the Italian Constitutional 

Court in the late 1970s. 

The second link to AUR is a story worth 

telling. Edoardo’s father, Vito Volterra, 

had a collection of scientific texts and 

manuscripts that he had collected 

throughout the years. When the war broke 

out, fearing that the collection would fall 

into the hands of the regime, the Volterra 

family hid the collection at Palazzo Fiano 

on Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina, which 

was owned by the Almagià family at the 

time. After the war, Colin sequestered the 

collection and returned it to the Volterra 

Family and, in 1981, it was Colin who found 

Bern Dibner to purchase the collection. 

Bern Dibner, a wealthy American bought 

the rare collection of science texts (valued 

at one million dollars at the time) and 

eventually donated it to Brandeis University 

in Waltham, Massachusetts. Mr. Dibner was 

also an AUR donor during the 1980s. 



(center) with AUR 

students and Joan 

Carpenter (far left) 


AUR archives. 


(on the right). 

Photo from AUR 

archives. 

49

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Egidio 

Ortona 


1. 

In war-torn Italy, the efforts leading to the 

country’s reconstruction were of imminent 

importance. Egidio Ortona was one of the 

five men who went to the United States 

during World War II to negotiate the terms 

for the reconstruction of Italy. Together 

with Quinto Quintieri, Raffaelle Mattioli, 

Marco Morelli, and Enrico Cuccia, Ortona 

arrived in the U.S.A. in 1944 where they were 

able to negotiate aid for Italy with the U.S. 

government. He also played a pivotal role in 

the political and economic negotiations of 

the Italian diplomat Alcide De Gasperi who 

negotiated with the U.S. on the execution 

of the Marshall Plan. He later served as the 

Italian Ambassador to the United Nations 

(1958-1961) and as the Italian Ambassador 

to the United States (1967-1975). 

Egidio Ortona was very close to both 

Lisa Sergio and Giorgio Tesoro. While it is 

probable that he met Tesoro during his 

economic negotiations in the 1940s, archival 

evidence does not give any indication of 

when and where he met Sergio. He did, 

however, know Sergio well as demonstrated 

by the correspondence between Ortona, his 

wife Giulia, and Lisa Sergio. Within those 

archives, there is an autographed book 

by Dino Grandi (a high-ranking Fascist 

politician who opposed Italy’s alliance with 

Germany) dedicated to Ortona; probably 

a gift from Ortona to Sergio. 

2. 

50 

1. Lisa Sergio and Egidio Ortona during the 

ceremony where Sergio was honored as 

Cavaliere of the Order of the Star of Italian 

Solidarity. Lisa Sergio papers, Booth Family 

Center for Special Collections, Georgetown 


2. Egidio Ortona honoring 

Giorgio Tesoro with the 

Order of Merit of the Italian 

Republic. Image courtesy 

of the Tesoro family.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Emilio Q. Daddario 

and His Wife Berenice 

3. 

Emilio Quincy Daddario was an Italian- 

American lawyer and politician who is 

credited to have captured Rodolfo Graziani, 

Mussolini’s Minister of National Defense 

since 1943. Daddario was a member 

of the OSS under Max Corvo – a Sicilian 

anti-Fascist who had been named as the 

head of the Italian faction of Strategic 

Services. In April 1945, Corvo sent 

Daddario to Switzerland to capture 

high-ranking Fascist officials, such as 

Benito Mussolini. His mission was to capture 

them before the Italian partisans did. 


After the war, Daddario went back to 

the U.S., where he was eventually elected 

in Connecticut to the U.S. House of 

Representatives, where he served from 

1959 to 1971. 

As a member of the OSS, Daddario was 

a friend of AUR’s founders and actually 

introduced Lisa Sergio to David T. Colin. 

Within the AUR archives, his name first 

appears as the co-author with Lisa Sergio 

of the AUR “project in the making”—a first 

draft of a vision for an American university 

in the Eternal City. 

Daddario (or ‘Mim,’ as he was known to 

friends) and his wife Berenice were close 

to both David T. Colin and Joan Carpenter 

as well as Lisa Sergio. 

3. Emilio Q. Daddario 

in 1970. Photo by 

Michael Lein, 

The New York Times. 

51

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

Lina 

Wertmüller 


1. 

The very first cohorts of students at AUR 

remember quite vividly the high-caliber 

professionals they met on field trips. The 

well-connected David T. Colin took students 

to meet heads of companies such as 

Perugina, Olivetti, Honeywell, FIAT, and 

Gucci. He also introduced students to 

political leaders including Enrico Berlinguer, 

Venerio Cattani, and Giorgio Almirante. 

Yet it was not just through politics and 

business classes that AUR students 

were afforded the opportunity to mingle 

with notable people. Colin had many 

connections in the Italian cultural scene, 

especially within the movie business. 

Students were taken to the sets of Enzo 

Castellani (famous for his Spaghetti 

Westerns ) and Tinto Brass, and were 

introduced to producers such as Alessandro 

Tasca (who produced for Orson Welles) and 

Robert Haggiag. 

One of the protagonists of the Italian film 

industry who taught several cohorts of 

early students at AUR was Lina Wertmüller. 

Extravagant and fascinating, Wertmüller 

would host AUR students in her studio or at 

her home, screen films, and speak to them 

about cinema at the time. Screenwriter 

and film director Wertmüller was the first 

woman in history to be nominated for an 

Academy Award for Best Director (1977). 

Close friends with Marcello Mastroianni 

and Federico Fellini, Wertmüller indulged 

students with tales from the industry, her 

eyes bright behind her signature white 

glasses, her vast knowledge animated 

by her distinctive charm. 

52 

1. Always smiling 

and fascinating, Lina 

gives her lectures on 

cinema at her home. 

October 1979. Photo 

from AUR archives.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

Prince 

Alessandro 

Tasca di Cutò 

adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti). 

In October 1927, Tasca Junior emigrated to 

New York and worked as a car mechanic, a 

driver, a cashier at a racetrack, and a runner 

on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange 

during the Wall Street crash of 1929. After 

the outbreak of World War II, Alessandro 

returned to Rome in May of 1942 and 

was hired by the Ministry of Propaganda 

where he met Ezra Pound. Betrayed by 

Eddie Legiardi Laura, a colleague from 

the Ministry who he had helped when the 

Fascist downfall had started, Alessandro 

was arrested and interned in the British-run 

Prisoner of War camp of Certosa di Padula 

in southern Italy. He was liberated a couple 

of years later and he returned to Rome. 


2. 

Prince Alessandro Tasca di Cutò was the 

son of Alessandro Tasca Filangeri di Cutò, 

known as the Sicilian “Red Prince” for the 

duality between his aristocratic background 

and his dedication to socialism. Tasca 

Senior, in fact, devoured his family fortune 

in support of his ideals, selling even the 

family estate of Santa Margherita Belice 

(described extensively by his cousin Prince 

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of 

the classic novel The Leopard, which was 

After the war, Tasca was hired by the 

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation 

Administration (UNRRA). He later started 

working in the film industry, easing 

Anglo-American productions through 

the complications of Italian bureaucracy. 

Tasca met several protagonists of Italian 

and international cinema at the time, 

such as Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rosellini, 

Pier Paolo Pasolini, John Huston, and 

Orson Welles, who was to become a 

lifelong friend. 

Alessandro Tasca was a visiting professor 

of AUR, leading seminars on cinematic 

production and inviting friends, such as 

the producer Robert Haggiag, to follow in 

his steps by sharing their knowledge and 

experiences with the students. 

2. Orson Welles 

and Alessandro Tasca 

on the set of Falstaff 

(Chimes at Midnight). 

1964-1965. Image from 

Panorama. 

53

PART II. 

50 YEARS OF HISTORY 

Chapter 2. The AUR Identity 

50 YEARS 

OF 

HISTORY 

54


PART II. 


Chapter 2: 

The AUR Identity 

55

PART II. 



Chapter 2: 

THE AUR IDENTITY 

AUR’s Mission 

The American University of Rome prepares 

students to live and work across cultures as 

skilled and knowledgeable citizens of an 

interconnected and rapidly changing world. 

AUR is a private, independent, not-for-profit 

institution of higher education, primarily 

offering undergraduate and graduate 

liberal arts and professional programs to 

degree seeking and study abroad students 

from around the world. 

Taking the best of the American approach 

to interdisciplinary, student-centered 

learning, our international faculty and 

staff use Rome as our classroom and Italy 

and Europe as invaluable resources. AUR’s 

innovative programs promote intellectual 

excellence, personal growth and an 

appreciation of cultural diversity in an 

international environment. 

56


PART II. 


57

PART II. 


1. 


FOTO 

Rome 

Roma Caput Mundi… There is no doubt 

that all roads lead to Rome. It is not by 

chance that The American University 

of Rome was founded in a city that has 

claimed its strategic importance, in 

different times and for different reasons, 

throughout the centuries. AUR, like Rome, 

is a place of layers: high-caliber education, 

real life experiences, relationships… all 

joined to define who we are, what we do, 

and what differentiates us from other 

universities. 

But, let us start at the beginning. Rome, as 

the saying goes, is considered the capital 

of the world. The actual “navel of the 

world,” however, is located precisely on 

the Capitoline Hill, on the southeast side 

of Piazza Venezia. Around 500 BC, the 

Capitoline Hill was the site of three grand 

temples: the Temple of Juno Moneta, the 

Temple of Virtus, and the Temple of Jupiter 

Optimus Maximus Capitolinus. Some 

centuries later, a Tabularium that held 

the Roman State Archives also claimed 

its spot atop the hill. The ceremonial and 

religious grandeur of the Capitoline did not, 

however, survive the advent of Christianity 

and for most of the Middle Ages, the site 

was emptied and left in nature’s grip. It 

was even named Monte Caprino at one 

point, for goats and sheep were taken to 

pasture there. 

It was only in the 11th century that the 

Capitoline Hill was established as the civic 

government center of Rome. Since then, 

it began to be the site of civil resistance 

to the Papal hold on Rome. Several revolts 

against the Pope and the aristocracy 

58 

1. Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae: View of 

the Roman Capitol, by Etienne DuPérac, 1569. 

Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public 

Domain Image from The Metropolitan Museum 

of Art. Vol 41.72.


PART II. 

took place atop the Capitoline, including 

those of Cola di Rienzo in the 1300s. By 

the 16th century, when Michelangelo was 

commissioned to design and restructure 

the Capitoline, the site has conspicuously 

distanced itself from its pasturing past. 

Michelangelo’s project for the piazza 

was quite ambitious. Pope Paul III wished 

to impress King Charles V and hence 

commissioned Michelangelo with a 

project that would highlight the grandeur 

of Rome with a monumental civic center. 

Michelangelo modified the facades of the 

existing buildings, designed the square 

and the Cordonata staircase, and shifted 

the orientation of the civic center, so that, 

rather than facing the Roman Forum, the 

Capitoline now faced the Vatican and 

Saint Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo did 

not live to see the completion of his design, 

but the construction followed his plans 

faithfully. The architectural opulence of the 

Capitoline Hill, regardless of one’s creed or 

political stance, is undeniable still today. 


In the late 1980s AUR adopted 

Michelangelo’s twelve-pointed geometry, 

and the world’s navel, as its logo. Its 

reference to planets and constellations 

and its slightly curved surface make it 

the architectural materialization of Roma 

Caput Mundi. AUR identifies itself with the 

symbolism and multiple layers that this 

statement encompasses: a place that is 

marked by history, a community of people 

from all over the world, a milestone in the 

lives of our students, and a site where 

wonderful memories are born. 

2. 

2. Piazza del Campidoglio, 

Rome. Photo by Jensens. 

July 7, 2008. Creative 

Commons CC0 1.0 

Universal Public Domain 

Image. 

59

PART II. 


A Classroom 

Without Walls 


Since its inception, The American University 

of Rome has been resolute in providing its 

students with a hands-on experiences in 

their subject of study. It is in this way that 

on-site learning and academic field trips 

have been an important pillar of the AUR 

curriculum and the AUR experience. David 

T. Colin, co-founder and the first president 

of AUR, is remembered for having the 

vision of AUR as a “classroom without 

walls.” The phrase stuck and since 1969 

these “wall-free” experiences have been 

the hub of unforgettable moments of 

schooling and comradery for all the young 

minds that have passed through AUR. 

3. 

60 

3. AUR students with 

Marcello Mastroianni 

(far left), world famous 

Italian actor and 

protagonist of Fellini’s La 

Dolce Vita, in June 1975. 



PART II. 

4. 

5. 


6. 


Enzo G. Castellari 

(center) on the set 

of his film Cipolla Colt 


AUR archives. 

5. Visiting professor Prince 

Alessandro Tasca di Cutò 

(right, seated), producer 

and close friend of Orson 

Welles, with a group of AUR 

students in his studio in 1975. 


6 Film producer 

Roberto Haggiag 

(right, seated) 

with AUR students 


AUR archives. 

61

PART I. 

THE ORIGINS 

7. 


62 

7. Kinetic artist Albert J. Friscia (far right) speaking to AUR 

students about art and sculpture in his studio in 1975. 

Friscia is remembered for the bronze altar he made for the Bernini 

apse of Saint Peter’s Basilica and the bronze doors of the Holy 

Name Cathedral in Chicago. Photo from AUR archives.

THE ORIGINS 

PART I. 

8. 


9. 

8. Enzo G. Castellari 

(center) with Grand Valley 

State College students, 

leading his film class 


AUR archives. 

9. Seminar with Leone 

Cattani (far right, back 

row), Italian lawyer, 

politician, and anti-Fascist 

activist in 1973. Photo 

from AUR archives. 

63

PART II. 


“TELL ME AND I’LL FORGET; 

SHOW ME AND I MAY REMEMBER; 

INVOLVE ME AND I’LL UNDERSTAND.” 

Chinese proverb 


10. 

64 

10. Film director Tinto Brass (left) 

with AUR students on the set of his 

movie Salon Kitty, released in 1976. 



PART II. 


11. 

12. 


Dr. Franco Ferrari 

(second from left) 

at the Olivetti plants 

in April of 1977. Photo 


12. AUR students 

at the Acropolis in 

Athens in October 

1977. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

65

PART II. 



13. 

66 

13. Joan Carpenter (second from 

left) and AUR students at 

Piazza del Campidoglio in 1977. 



PART II. 

“EDUCATING THE MIND 

WITHOUT EDUCATING THE HEART 

IS NO EDUCATION AT ALL.” 

Aristotle 


14. 

14. Session with Italian 

novelist and journalist 

Alberto Moravia (center, 

seated) in his apartment 

in November 1977. Photo 


67

PART II. 



15. 

68


PART II. 


15. Drawing 

and study session 

at the Colosseum 


AUR archives. 

69

PART II. 



16. 

“EDUCATION IS THE MOST POWERFUL 

WEAPON WHICH YOU CAN USE TO 

CHANGE THE WORLD.” 

Nelson Mandela 

70 

16. Session with Giorgio Almirante 

(third from left) leader of the 

Movimento Sociale Italiano in 1977. 



PART II. 


17. 

17. AUR students with NBC 

Bureau Chief David Teitelbaum 

(right seated) in 1977. 


71

PART II. 



18. 

19. 

72 

18. Chantal Skibinski 

(second from left), 

Head of Public Relations 

for GUCCI, in March 1978. 


19. AUR students visiting 

the American Embassy 

in Rome in 1978. Photo 

from AUR archives.


PART II. 


20. 

21. 

20. AUR students in a 

seminar on labor and 

industry at the Unione 

Industriale (Industrial 

Union) of Turin in April 

1978. Photo from AUR 

archives. 


Pietro Giustina (center) 

President and CEO 

of Giustina Spa, in 

1978. Photo from AUR 

archives. 

73

PART II. 



22. 

74 

22. AUR students attending 

a seminar at the beverage 

company Cinzano in 1978. 

Cinzano was bought by 

the Campari group in 1999. 



PART II. 


23. 

23. Session at the 

Milan headquarters 

of Honeywell in 1978. 


75

PART II. 



24. 

76


PART II. 


24. Joan Carpenter (right) 

and AUR students getting 

ready to head out to 

on-site experiences 

in December 1978. 


77

PART II. 


25. 


26. 

78 

25. AUR students at the 

train station in 1978. 


26. Enrico Berlinguer (center) 

with AUR students in 1978. 

Berlinguer was a charismatic leader 

of Italy’s Communist party (1972-84) 

and a staunch opponent of Fascist policy 

in Italy. Photo from AUR archives.


PART II. 

27. 

28. 


29. 

27. Prof. Enzo Amorini 

(center) conducting his 

Italian lesson with AUR 

students in Perugia in 1978. 


28. AUR students at 

the entrance of Pompeii 

before a lesson with 

Prof. Almagià in 

December 1978. 


29. Heading back 

from Pompeii with 

Prof. Almagià (far left) 

in April 1979. Photo 


79

PART II. 


30. 


31. 

80 


attending an on-site class 

with Prof. Reboli (center) 

at Saint Peter’s in July 1979. 


31. Prof. Peggy Craig 

(far left) giving an art 

history lesson to students in 

the Roman Forum in 1978. 



PART II. 

32. 


33. 


and Prof. Nicholas Reboli 

(third from left) ready to 

depart for a fieldtrip in 1978. 


33. AUR students heading 

out to Perugia, Assisi, 

and Spoleto in September 1981. 


81

PART II. 


“A WELL-EDUCATED MIND 

WILL ALWAYS HAVE MORE QUESTIONS 

THAN ANSWERS.” 

Helen Keller 


34. 

82 

34. Driving from 

Olympia in Greece in 


from AUR archives.


PART II. 

35. 


36. 

35. 


boarding the airplane 

back to Rome at the 

Athens airport in 




at Herculaneum 


AUR archives. 

83

PART II. 


37. 


84


PART II. 



on a field trip with Prof. 

Eduardo Almagià (right) 

May 1978. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

85

PART II. 



38. 

“THE MIND IS NOT A VESSEL 

TO BE FILLED, 

BUT A FIRE TO BE KINDLED.” 

Plutarch 

86 


with Prof. Amorini 

(top row, second 

from right) in 1982. 



PART II. 

39. 


39. Visit to the Perugina 

chocolate factory in the 1990s. 


87

PART II. 



40 

88


PART II. 


40. AUR students at the Fiera 

di Milano with Mary Handley 

(top row right) in 1994. 


89

PART II. 



41 

42 

90 

41. Fieldtrip to Esso 

Refinery in Augusta, Sicily, 

with Prof. Aldo Patania 

(second from right) 

in the early 2000s. 


42. Fieldtrip to the Vatican 

State headquarters 

with Prof. James Walston 

(fourth from left) in 2009. 



PART II. 


43 

44 

43. Kosovo fieldtrip with 

Prof. James Walston 

(first row, center) in 2009. 


44. AUR and Sapienza 

University students digging 

at the Colosseum with Prof. 

Valerie Higgins (far right) 

in 2014. Photo from AUR 

archives. 

91

PART II. 



From a Study 

Abroad Institution 

to a Resident-Based 

University in the 

Heart of Rome 

1 

Although not originally conceived as such, 

AUR operated mainly as a Study Abroad 

institution during its first years, offering 

American students an experience abroad in 

collaboration with their home universities. 

Initially, AUR received students from 

Pitzer College (California), Grand Valley 

State College (Michigan), and American 

University in Washington, DC. 

92 

1. Grand Valley State College 

students arriving at the airport 



PART II. 

Slowly, AUR expanded its reach and created 

affiliations with other universities in the 

United States. Today, AUR is affiliated with 

more than 40 universities and institutions 

across the U.S. 


2 

In the late 1970s, the leadership that 

succeeded the founding team took 

a significant step towards expanding 

AUR and making it a degree-granting 

institution. In 1986, with an articulation 

agreement with CUNY College of Staten 

Island, AUR was granted the authority to 

confer degrees in Business Administration, 

Interdisciplinary Studies, and International 

Business. Italian Studies and International 

Relations were added to the curriculum 

in the early 1990s, while Communication 

arrived in the latter part of the decade. 

Thus, AUR steadily grew into the higher 

education institution it is today, now 

offering ten undergraduate programs and 

three graduate programs. 

2. Pitzer and Pomona students 

with Prof. Enzo Amorini 

(far right, standing) in Perugia 

in 1978. Photo from AUR archives. 

93

PART II. 


3 


4 

94 

3. AUR barbecue with 

President Melady (front 

row, third from right) 

in 1992. Photo from AUR 

archives. 

4. Group of AUR 

students in the early 

1990s. Photo from 

AUR archives.


PART II. 

AUR granted its first degree 

in 1987. Where in these 

early days graduating 

classes held between 

12 to 20 students, 

it now graduates some 

80 students each year. 


5 

5. Cohort of the 

Class of 1996 walking 

through the AUR 

garden. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

95

PART II. 


AUR Commencements 


Rome has long been a crossroads of the world, a city 

that lies between Europe and Asia, a meeting point 

of ideas, cultures, and nationalities. AUR is, for many 

of our students, the crossroads between adolescence 

and adulthood. As the procession through Rome’s 

triumphal arches signified victory and celebration 

millennia ago, the Commencement ceremony serves 

as a celebratory rite of passage for all AUR graduates 

as they launch themselves into the world and the 

next chapter of their life’s journey. In the early 1990s, 

1 

96 

1. Graduates of 2001 at 

the Commencement 

ceremony at Palazzo 

Brancaccio. Photo from 

AUR archives.


PART II. 

2 


some commencements were held on the 

campus of Via Pietro Roselli, in the style of 

American universities in the United States. 

With increasing class sizes over time, AUR 

commencements moved to Villa Miani (on 

the Via Trionfale in northern Rome) and 

Palazzo Falconieri (near Campo dei Fiori). 

Eventually, the ceremony moved to the 

majestic Villa Aurelia (five minutes from 

the current AUR campus). 

3 

While the locations changed, the spirit of 

Commencement remained the same: an 

occasion for staff, faculty, families, and 

students to come together in celebration. 

For students and parents, the event 

means the end of one chapter and the 

beginning of another. For staff and 

faculty, the celebration is a reminder of 

why we do what we do at AUR: we work 

with students, and for students, to foster 

informed citizens and better leaders. 

2. The Class of 1999 

at the Commencement 

ceremony at Villa Miani. 


3. Graduates of the 

Class of 1995 sitting in 

the AUR garden of Via 

Pietro Roselli. Photo 


97

PART II. 



4 

98


PART II. 


4. Graduates-to-be 

of the Class of 2004 

getting ready for the 

ceremony at Villa 

Aurelia. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

99

PART II. 



5 

6 

100 



ceremony at Palazzo 

Brancaccio. Photo from 

AUR archives. 


graduation procession 

led by Prof. James Walston 

at Villa Aurelia. Photo 

from AUR archives.


PART II. 

7 


7. Graduates of 2010 

at Villa Aurelia. Photo 


101

PART II. 



8 

9 

102 

8. Honorary Degree 

Recipient Joseph Plumeri 

(far left, standing) 

addresses the Class of 2018 


ceremony at Villa Aurelia. 


9. Prof. Kathleen Fitzsimmons 

(third from right) with students at 

the Commencement ceremony 

of 2012 at Villa Aurelia. 



PART II. 

10 


11 

10. Master’s Degree 

Graduates of 2018 at 




AUR archives. 

11. Graduates of 

the Class of 2015 

taking a selfie at 




AUR archives. 

103

PART II. 


12 


13 

14 

104 

12. The Class of 

2000 hat toss at the 

Commencement 


Miani. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

13.The Class of 2006 

hat toss at the 

Commencement 



AUR archives. 



Commencement 



AUR archives.


PART II. 

15 


16 



Commencement 



AUR archives. 



Commencement 



AUR archives. 

105

PART II. 


A Hub 

of World Citizens 


In a world that is often inclined towards 

the building of walls, AUR seeks to build 

bridges.Education, in an environment 

that fosters intercultural exchange, is 

crucial if we are to see a world that favors 

collaboration instead of exclusion. 

Together with Michelangelo’s geometry at 

the Piazza del Campidoglio, AUR’s motto 

reads inter gentes trans orbem, translating 

as “between peoples, across the world”. 

A paramount element of the AUR identity 

is, in fact, its multicultural nature. AUR 

prides itself on having students from 

all parts of the world who enrich the 

community with their diverse cultures and 

experiences. It is this cultural richness that 

has made this University a hub of world 

citizens and cultural exchange since its 

inception 50 years ago, right up until the 

present day, standing atop the Janiculum 

Hill. Alumni testimonials consistently 

identify AUR’s element of cultural diversity 

as one of the highlights of their university 

experience, and they truly value the global 

network that they become a part of, 

having kept in touch with friends from AUR 

after graduating. 

The abounding multiculturalism at AUR 

combines with its high caliber academic 

offerings to create the AUR experience. 

The University provides its students 

with a strong knowledge base, while 

simultaneously endowing them with 

significant cultural experiences that foster 

awareness of the past and the present, to 

better face the challenges of the future. 

1 

106


PART II. 


1. Film students 

shooting at EUR 

neighborhood in 


AUR archives. 

107

PART II. 


2 


3 

108 

2. Students relaxing at CIVIS 

in 1975. The Casa Italiana Viaggi 

Internazionali Studenti (CIVIS) is 

Loyola University’s headquarters 

in Rome. Photo from AUR archives. 

3. Group of students in front 

of Spoleto Cathedral in 1979. 



PART II. 

4 


5 

4. AUR Orientation for freshmen 

and sophomores in 1980. Photo 


5. Group of students in 

Napflion, Greece in 1981. 


109

PART II. 



6 

110


PART II. 


6. Group of students in front 

of Spoleto Cathedral in 1982. 


111

PART II. 


7 


8 

9 

112 

7. Tie dye in the AUR 

garden in 2017. Photo 


8. AUR group photo after 

Board of Trustees’ event 

at the Majestic Hotel 

in Rome in 2009.Photo 


9. AUR students on the 

terrace of Building A. 



PART II. 

10 


11 


in Piazza Navona. 


archives. 


students in the 

campus garden 

in 2008. Photo 

by Julie Williams, 


113

PART II. 



According to myth... 

Romulus 

and Remus: 

The wolf and our mascot 

No history is complete without the myths 

that accompany it. Like Rome, AUR proudly 

carries a myth about its founding. 

The first and most significant myth of 

Rome is that of Romulus and Remus, and 

of course, the she-wolf. AUR adopted the 

wolf as its official mascot in celebration 

of Rome and the myth, so it is only suitable 

to start there. 

Legend tells that Rome was founded on 

April 21, 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, 

sons of Rhea Silvia. The question of 

paternity varies greatly from version to 

version. Some attribute the pregnancy to 

Mars, the god of War, others to the hero 

Hercules. The more rational would take 

the stance of Livy, who attributed the 

conception to rape. Regardless of who the 

father was, as a Vestal Virgin, Rhea would 

have faced dire consequences for infringing 

her vow of chastity. 

When the twins are born, they are 

abandoned in a basket on the River Tiber, 

either by order of King Amulius or by the 

114


PART II. 

hand of a frightened and desperate 

mother. The story goes that at the 

foot of the Palatine Hill, the basket gets 

caught in the roots of a fig tree. There, 

the children are found by a she-wolf, 

1 


who feeds them and protects them as if 

they were her cubs. When fully grown, the 

twin brothers decide to establish a city. 

Disagreeing, as all siblings do, things get a 

little out of hand. Romulus kills Remus and 

calls the new city Rome. 

All roads do lead to Rome, and no amount 

of words or images can prepare for the 

sense of awe that this wonderfully chaotic 

city inspires in all who come here. You could 

spend a lifetime in Rome and it would 

never stop surprising you with its endless 

intricacies and fragments of history that 

are woven into the very fabric of the city. 

1. Illustration of the Capitoline she-wolf with 

young Romulus and Remus. Page 102 from 

Speculum romanae magnificentiae, 1575, 

by Antoine Lafréry (1512-1577). Typ 525.75.509. 

Houghton Library, Harvard University. 

115

PART II. 



The American 

University of Rome: 

A School for 

American Spies 

The founding myth regarding The American 

University of Rome is that it was set-up as 

a school with tight links to the American 

intelligence services. After World War 

II, it is rumored that American overseas 

universities were set up as surveillance 

hubs and information centers, especially 

in Europe. Within the American narrative 

of the “communist enemy,” Italy was of 

particular interest. Italian socialist groups 

were known to sway more towards the 

ideals of Soviet Communism instead of 

those of a more democratic socialism, as in 

other parts of Europe. Therefore, Rome was 

in theory one of the best places to establish 

a University that would serve as a cover for 

intelligence missions. 

116


PART II. 

2 


2. Wellman, Walter J., Memorandum presented 

to the Office of General Counsel OASW, 

SSU. Dated 26 October 1945. Declassified file. 

Office of Strategic Services Personnel Files 

from World War II. The U.S. National Archives 

and Records Administration. 

117

PART II. 



This myth has been part of AUR since its 

beginnings. I have heard it from different 

sources and at different times, but I will 

do my best to transcribe it as faithfully as 

possible and not forget any of the details. 

The American University of Rome was 

founded in 1969 by David T. Colin, a 

member of the American intelligence 

services. Colin had been an undercover 

spy during World War II, Sergeant of the 

American military and listed as a soldier 

of Operation PAPAYA of October 1944: a 

five-man mission led by Major John Tozzi 

that aimed at entering Italy from France. 

In the mid-1960s, he was sent to Italy to 

set up a school that would help keep an 

eye on the intellectual left-wing groups. 

A classified operation with an academic 

façade, The American University of Rome 

was brimming with trained spies that 

taught the courses offered. In keeping 

under the radar, the programs lasted only 

four months, as most spy professors had 

to return to their U.S. base regularly. Colin, 

a spy himself and the head of the Rome 

operation, was very well connected among 

the political circles of Rome and the Italian 

government. Taking AUR students on 

fieldtrips, it is rumored that Colin did “spy 

work” on the side, gathering information 

as part of his mission with U.S. intelligence 

services. Some accounts of the myth also 

say that some of the students were junior 

spies in training. 

The roots of this myth—apart from the 

historical context that would seem to 

support it—probably lie in the founders’ 

involvement with the State Department 

and the U.S. Foreign Service. Although 

AUR’s founding group was closely involved 

with politics and both the U.S. and Italian 

governments, there is no real proof that 

the University was in fact a cover for 

espionage activities. Records show that 

David Colin was discharged from the OSS 

(predecessor to the CIA) in October 1945. If 

he was doing undercover espionage during 

the early years of AUR in the 1970s, we have 

yet to find the documents to confirm it. 

118


PART II. 

3 


3. Colin, David. Letter presented to 1st Lt. 

James D. Walsh. Dated 30 November 1945. 

Declassified file. Office of Strategic Services 

Personnel Files from World War II. The U.S. 

National Archives and Records Administration. 

119

PART II. 


Chapter 3. AUR Is Its People 

Chapter 3: 

AUR IS ITS PEOPLE 

History is nothing but a narration of 

those who live, work, believe in a vision, 

and make it happen. AUR is only as strong 

as its people. It is thanks to the people— 

from all constituencies, throughout 

the years—that AUR is what it is today. 

Students, staff, faculty, alumni, trustees, 

donors, volunteers, and friends, all make 

up that worldwide AUR community that 

will always call Rome, home. 

120


PART II. 

1 



students in 2005. 


121

PART II. 


AUR Chairs of the 

Board of Trustees: 


George A. Tesoro 

(1969-1984) 

Joseph T. Ventura 

(1984-1989) 

Margaret J. Giannini 

(1989-2003) 

Joseph V. Del Raso 

(2003-2013) 

Gabriel A. Battista 

(2013-Present) 

122


PART II. 

2 


3 

2. Current Chair of the Board 

of Trustees, Gabriel A. Battista 

addressing the graduating class 

at Commencement. 


3. Current Board of Trustees, 

with Dr. Richard Hodges, OBE 

(second row, third from left). 


123

PART II. 


AUR Presidents: 


David T. Colin 

(1969-1985) 

John V. Falconieri 

(1985-1989) 

Gregory O. Smith 

(Acting) 

(1989-1990) 

Robert Severino 

(1990-1993) 

Amb. Alessandro 

Cortese de Bosis 

(1993-1995) 

Angela Iovino 

(1995-1996) 

Peter Alegi 

(Acting) 

(1996-1996) 

Margaret Melady 

(1997-2003) 

Robert H. Evans 

(2003-2005) 

Robert Marino 

(2005-2011) 

Andrew Thompson 

(Acting) 

(2011-2012) 

Richard Hodges, OBE 

(2012-Present) 

124


PART II. 

4 


4. Founder and first President 

of AUR, David T. Colin (front left), 

with students in 1977. 


125

PART II. 



Honorary degree 

recipients since 1994: 

1994 

Rev. Donald Harrington 

Former President 

of St. John’s University 

1995 

Edward D. Re 

Chief Judge, Professor 

of St. John’s University 

1997 

Cipriana Artom Scelba 

Former Exec. Director, Italian 

Fulbright Commission 

(1948-1988) 

1997 

Antonio Marinelli 

Businessman, and former Member 

of the Board of Trustees 

of The American University of Rome 

1998 

Corinne Claiborne Boggs 

American Politician and former 

Ambassador of the U.S. 

to the Vatican 

1998 

Hage Geingob 

Politician and current President 

of the Republic of Namibia 

1999 

Stephen A. Fausel 

Philanthropist, Environmentalist, 

Businessman, Humanitarian 

1999 

Rexhep Meidani 

Physics Professor and Diplomat, 

former President of the Republic 

of Albania 

2000 

Francesco Rutelli 

Italian Politician and former Mayor 

of the City of Rome 

2001 

Boris Biancheri 

Italian Diplomat and Author, former 

President of Ansa 

(Italian Press Agency) 

2001 

Catherine Bertini 

Leader in International Organization 

Management, former Executive 

Director of World Food Program 

(1992-2002) 

2002 

Patricia de Stacy Harrison 

U. S. Assistant Secretary of State, 

Educational & Cultural Affairs, 

former Member of the Board 

of Trustees of the American 

University of Rome 

2002 

Lawrence E. Auriana 

Co-founder and Portfolio Manager, 

Federated Kaufmann Fund 

126


PART II. 

2003 

Dr. Margaret J. Giannini 

Director, Office of Disability, 

Department of Health and Human 

Services, former Member of the 

Board of Trustees of The American 


2004 

Lilli Gruber 

RAI Television Journalist 

2005 

On. Franco Frattini 

Italian Politician 

and EU Commissioner 

2005 

John F. Scarpa 

Entrepreneur, Former co-founder 

and president of American Cellular 

Network Corporation, as well as 

former co-founder of Unitel Wireless 

Communications Systems 

2005 


Educator, Scholar of Politics 

and International Relations, 

former President of The American 


2006 

Pier Francesco Guarguaglini 

Italian Engineer, Businessman 

and Educator, former Chairman 

of Finmeccanica (2002-2011) 

2006 

Adriano La Regina 

Italian Archaeologist and former 

President of the Instituto Nazionale 

di Archeologia e Storia dell Arte 

and President of Zetema-Progetto 

Cultura (1976-2004) 

2007 

Sean Lovett 

Director of English Programs, 

Vatican Radio 

2007 

Sylvia Poggioli 

Senior European Correspondent 

for NPR’s Foreign Desk 

2008 

Ronald P. Spogli 

American Venture Capitalist 

and Diplomat, former US 

Ambassador to Italy 

2009 

Giuliano Amato 

Italian Lawyer and Politician, 

President of the American 

Studies Center 

2009 

Vincent Viola 

Senior Strategic Advisor New York 

Mercantile Exchange 

2010 

Piero Angela 

Writer and RAI Journalist 

2010 

Robert Carlucci 

Businessman and Philanthropist 

Founder of R&R Ventures 

and Affiliates. 

2011 

David H. Thorne 

American Businessman and former 

US Ambassador to Italy 

2012 

Francesco Guccini 

Italian Singer, Poet and Songwriter 


127

PART II. 



2012 

Emmanuele F.M. Emanuele 

Honorary Chairman 

Fondazione Roma 

2013 

Donna Shalala 

US Congresswoman and former 

President of the University of Miami 

2013 

Adele Chatfield Taylor 

Prominent Arts Administrator 

and former President of American 

Academy in Rome (1988-2013) 

2013 

Salvatore Mancuso 

President Equinox; 

Former Vice President of Alitalia 

2013 

Andrea Camilleri 

Novelist 

2014 

Roger Waters 

Pink Floyd Lead Singer 

and Philanthropist 

2014 

Mary Beard 

Classicist 

2014 

Aurelio De Laurentiis 

Film Producer and Chairman 

of Napoli Football Club 

2015 

Paolo Sorrentino 

Film Director and Producer 

2015 

Alice Waters 

Chef, Author, Food Activist 

2016 

Oscar Farinetti 

Founder of Eataly 

2016 

Harry Shindler, MBE 

Author and campaigner 

for veterans of WWII 

2017 

Laura Boldrini 

President of the Italian Chamber 

of Deputies 

2017 

Lynn Meskell 

Professor, Department 

of Anthropology, Stanford University 

2017 

Rula Jebreal 

Journalist, Author and Foreign 

Policy Analyst 

2018 

Charles K. Williams II 

Philanthropist and Archaeologist 

2018 

Joseph J. Plumeri II 

Philanthropist and Entrepreneur 

128


PART II. 

5 


6 

5. Honorary Degree recipient 

Roger Waters (center) with 

AUR Board Chair and Senior Staff 

in 2014. Photo from AUR archives. 


Rula Jebreal (center) with Syrian 

scholarship recipients in 2017. 


129

PART II. 


7 


8 

130 


Paolo Sorrentino (front left), 

with AUR students in 2015. 



Vincent Viola (left), with AUR 

students in 2009. 



PART II. 

People who have left 

an unforgettable trace 

at AUR: 

Robert Henry 

Evans 

President 2003-2005 

Robert Henry Evans was born in Bristol, 

England, on April 1, 1937. He grew up 

mainly in France, becoming a fluent French 

and Italian speaker, graduating from the 

Institut des Etudes Politiques in 1959. He 

then taught geography and history in 

France for two years before going to the 

University of Denver where he received his 

master’s degree in 1961 and his Ph.D. in 

1966. During this period, he continued to 

work at the Bologna Center as Assistant 

to the Director. He then returned to the 

U.S., where he taught at the University 

of Notre Dame and later at the University 

of Virginia as a Professor of Government 

and Foreign Affairs, as well as serving as 

Chair of the Department at the latter from 

1982-1987. In 1992, he returned to Bologna to 

direct the Johns Hopkins University School 

of Advanced International Studies. 

In 2003, he moved to Rome to become 

President of AUR. 

During his lifetime, he received several 

awards for his work in the field of education 

and international relations. Among these 

were the Turrito d’Oro from the Mayor 

of Bologna, the Sigillo d’Ateneo from the 

University of Bologna, the Distinguished 

Alumnus Award from Johns Hopkins 

University, and, along with his wife, the 

Founder’s Award from the Paul H. Nitze 

School of Advanced International Studies 

in Washington, DC. 

A scholar, political scientist, educator, and 

revered academic leader, Robert Evans 

believed that international education 

allowed for better world citizens and 

more mindful leaders. He stated: “You 

put 30 nationalities together, each with 

its point of view, and by the end of the 

year each person has learned to listen to 

another point of view, and ponder it, and 

even agree with it.” He was, undeniably, a 

perfect fit for AUR and it is saddening that 

he was not able to see the growth of the 

University as he had once envisioned it. In 

2005, Evans passed away prematurely due 

to illness. In honor of his memory, the SAIS 

department of Johns Hopkins University 

in Bologna dedicated library in his name. 

The American University of Rome named 

its library after him and his wife, who both 

made great contributions to the growth 

and vision of the University, despite the 

brevity of the time they spent there. 

Robert H. Evans will always be remembered 

by the AUR community as a kind and 

visionary man and a leading voice of AUR 

that has echoed throughout the years. 



in 2003. 

Photo from 

AUR archives. 

131

PART II. 



Terry Rossi 

Kirk 

Professor of Art History 

1988-2009 

“IMPOSSIBLE WORDS, 

WONDROUS 

NECESSARY WORDS, 

WORDS LONGING TO BE 

MORE THAN WORDS, 

LONGING TO 

BE MORE LIKE SILENCE 

OR LIKE ACTION, 

WORDS IN THE FACE 

OF UNSPEAKABLE BEAUTY, 

OF UNSPEAKABLE 

ANGUISH, 

WORDS OF SHAME 

AND OF HOPE 

BLUSHING 

AT THEMSELVES.” 

Poem by Paul Murray, 

shared by Prof. Breda Enis 

132


PART II. 


Terry Rossi Kirk was born on August 30, 

1961, in Florida. He attended Université de 

Genève in Switzerland, Universität Wien 

in Austria, and Università per Stranieri 

in Perugia, Italy. He received a B.A. with 

distinction in Art History at Yale College, 

New Haven, in 1984. Kirk completed three 

additional degrees at Columbia University, 

New York, in the Department of Art 

History: an M.A. in 1986, an M.Phil. in 1987, 

and a Ph.D. in 1997. During his lifetime, he 

collaborated with the National Endowment 

for the Humanities, the Institut de l’Histoire 

de l’Art, the Deutsches Archaeologisches 

Institut, the Yale University School of 

Architecture, the University of Lund, the 

Savannah College of Art and Design, 

and the Wagner Society of Rome. 

Wanderer Above the 

Sea of Fog, 

by Caspar David 

Friedrich circa 1817. 

Oil on canvas. 

Kunsthalle Hamburg. 

133

PART II. 



Terry Kirk started working at The American 

University of Rome in 1988, teaching an 

introductory course entitled “The Art 

of Rome.” He worked closely not only 

with the faculty in his department, but 

with professors from all AUR’s academic 

departments, and formed strong bonds 

with students, professors, and staff alike. 

He left in his wake that most significant 

and profound legacy that any teacher can 

hope for: he changed lives. His students 

remember his lectures as engaging and 

inspiring, his marvelous way with words 

bringing the art and architecture of 

Rome to life. A singer and a performer, 

he imbued his classes with theatricality, 

leading students through the streets 

of Rome on expeditions to plume its stories 

and secrets. His dedication and enthusiasm 

as a professor is extant, still today. 

The students who had the honor of 

meeting him continue to treasure their 

memories of his dedication and enthusiasm 

as a professor. 

On October 17, 2009, Terry Kirk left 

this world prematurely. His death was 

a tremendous loss for the entire AUR 

community, the field of Art History, and 

academia at large. He will always be 

remembered for his unfaltering smile and 

joie-de-vivre, one of the greatest professors 

Rome and AUR ever had. 

134 

Prof. Kirk (second from 

left) with his students 

at Parco del Colle Oppio, 

near the Colosseum. 



PART II. 

“Terry loved a painting entitled wanderer 

above the sea of fog by the German Romantic 

landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich 

– a haunting vision of a lonely figure standing 

on a rocky peak confronting the grandeur 

of nature in astonished reverence. 

In the distance – through the swirling fog 

– rises a triangular shaped mountain which 

seems to dialogue with him across the vast open 

spaces inhabited by hills, trees, 

and of course the fog. 


Terry climbed up to the rocky peak for a final 

communion with nature’s great distances 

and vast spaces. 

We, all of us, want to spiritually go up 

the mountain with him. 

We want to Acknowledge his loneliness 

and his solitude – a loneliness that is desiring 

and which lent a dignity to the poem of his life. 

His last word to us is silence-------that silence coming 

from the mystery of the human condition. 

Again ------his last word is silence – a silence having 

within it an element of the tragic and the heroic. 

It brings us to contemplate our own inner 

spaces and solitude. 

Terry went into the enormous beauty of nature 

to solace his soul, a soul that yearned for what 

the mountain would say to him.” 

Prof. Breda Ennis 

135

PART II. 



James 

Walston 

Professor of International 

Relations 1991-2014 

James Walston was born in Dublin, Ireland, 

on July 18, 1949. He was raised in England, 

where he studied at Eton and Jesus College, 

Cambridge University (B.A. 1975 and 

Ph.D. 1986). In the early 1970s, he taught in 

Milan, and, in 1974, he moved permanently 

to Rome. 

Walston taught mainly in U.S. higher education 

institutions abroad, including the 

University of Maryland, Middlebury College 

in Vermont, and various U.S. programs 

in Rome, including Temple, Trinity, and 

Loyola. In 1991, he joined the AUR community, 

teaching history, politics, and international 

relations. An expert in contemporary 

Italian politics, conflict resolution issues, 

and modern history, Walston published extensively 

and was called to comment on 

politics and economy by important news 

outlets, such as The Guardian, CNN, ABC, 

136 

Professor Walston at 

the 40th Anniversary 

picnic in 2009. Photo 

from AUR archives.


PART II. 

and the BBC. In 1997, he became the first 

European Union citizen to stand for election 

to the Rome City Council. 

From 2002 to 2008, Walston was the Chair 

of the International Relations Department 

at AUR. During this time, he took students 

on regular fieldtrips to sites like Brussels, 

Geneva, and Vienna, as well as to conflict 

resolution sites like the Basque Country, 

Northern Ireland, Montenegro, and Kosovo. 

During this period, Walston also established 

an annual Ghana trip and the brief, but 

influential, Ghana Scholarship for Ghanaian 

students to spend a semester abroad at 

AUR. Since 2004, and until his premature 

passing, he also taught and directed the 

University of Rome La Sapienza’s Eurosapienza’s 

international relations module in the 

master’s program in State Management 

and Humanitarian Affairs. 

James Walston changed the lives of his students. 

With his passion and dedication to 

teaching, he is remembered by all as a pillar 

of The American University of Rome. In the 

words of President Richard Hodges, “Over 

the course of a quarter century, Professor 

Walston was not only a founding father of 

The American University of Rome, but its 

most distinguished, gracious, and charismatic 

public champion. He was a beloved 

professor who provided his students with 

fascinating classes and real-world experiences, 

always combined with a habitually 

gentle wisdom.” 

James Walston passed away in May 2014. 

Following his death, several memorial 

initiatives were launched in his memory. 

The James Walston Fund was launched by 

alumnae Sallie Pisch (International Relations, 

2010) and Caitlin Bagby (International 

Relations, 2009). The fund supports 

the International Relations fieldtrips that 

Walston so strongly believed in. To Professor 

Walston these trips were an essential 

component of an International Relations’ 

education because they provided students 

the possibility to experience theoretical and 

historical training on the ground. 


Professor Walston at 


procession of 2010. 


archives. 

137

PART II. 



Through these academic fieldtrips, students 

do not just gain knowledge of the 

real world but create bonds as a community 

by sharing a common passion of international 

affairs. Furthermore, the annual 

James Walston Memorial Lecture was established 

in commemoration of the various 

guest lecturers that Walston brought to 

AUR during his years as a professor. 

The premature passing of James Walston 

was a great loss to AUR, but he will always 

be remembered, commemorated, 

and honored as one of the great people 

that changed AUR forever. 

“Professor Walston was a true teacher 

and an incredible academic mind. 

His devotion to AUR stemmed from 

his relationships with the students, 

his love of Italy, and Rome in particular, 

and an unflappable drive to be a force 

for good in the world. He had a very 

strong belief that he could contribute 

to students’ world views through teaching 

and through practical exposure to 

the political realities of any given 

situation. I believe that he found a perfect 

confluence of inspirations at AUR, 

in that he could incorporate his workstudy 

trips into a rigorous academic 

program and truly teach people about 

politics and the world.” 

Bliss Holloway, International 

Relations and Global Politics, 2004 

Chair, AUR Alumni Council 

138


PART II. 


AUR students at an on-site 

class at the Pantheon. 


139

PART II. 


SENIORITY HONOR ROLL 

by years of service 


27 years of service 

Rosa Fusco, Director of Computer Services 


Franziska Wallner, Senior Librarian 


Giovanna Agostini, Adjunct Faculty, Fine Arts 

Anna Balzarro, Adjunct Faculty, History 

Paolo Crocchiolo, Adjunct Faculty, Biology 

Lucy Delogu, Adjunct Faculty, Italian Studies 

Valentina Dorato, Adjunct Faculty, Italian Studies 

Alessandro Liberto, Adjunct Faculty, Poetry and Literature 

Josephine Luzon, Adjunct Faculty, Accounting 

Timothy Martin, Adjunct Faculty, Italian Studies/Fine Arts 

Ida Passarelli, Adjunct Faculty, Italian Studies 

Silvano Susi, Adjunct Faculty, Business Administration 

140


PART II. 


Marita Luzon, Finance Office Manager 


Katherine Bemis, Student Life Coordinator, 

Community Service & Engagement Specialist 

Daria Borghese, Adjunct Faculty, Art History 

Chiara Lino, Student Life Coordinator & Intercultural 

Relations Specialist 

David A. Pollon, Adjunct Faculty, Business Administration 

Robert G. Sonnabend, Adjunct Faculty, Business 

Administration 



Kathleen Fitzsimmons, Associate Professor, 

Director of Business Administration 

Paul Gwynne, Full Professor of Medieval 

and Renaissance Studies, Director of Interdisciplinary Studies 

Valerie Higgins, Associate Professor of Archaeology, 

Director of Sustainable Cultural Heritage MA 

Jens D. Koehler, Adjunct Faculty, Archaeology and Classics 

Marshall Langer, Adjunct Faculty, Business Administration 

Catherine Ramsey-Portolano, Associate Professor, 

Director of Italian Studies 

Stefano Stoppaccioli, Dean of Students 

& Director of Affilliate Programs 

141

PART II. 


Chapter 4. The Locations of AUR 

Chapter 4: 

THE LOCATIONS OF AUR 

When you walk onto the campus 

of The American University of Rome 

today, it seems inconceivable that AUR 

started in an apartment in the center 

of Rome. And yet, it did. With its legal 

headquarters at the Colin residence, 

AUR rented two apartments in the 

vicinity of Via Veneto, where most classes 

were held. The American University 

of Rome, as envisioned by its founders, 

was in fact a University without—or 

with very few—walls. David T. Colin and 

Joan Carpenter took students all around 

Rome, and Italy, to learn from high profile 

professionals in business, art, cinema, and 

politics. It was not until 1993, when the 

dislocated buildings became insufficient to 

hold the number of students it had, that 

AUR was forced to look for a new campus. 

142


PART II. 


Giovanni Battista Piranesi. The Piazza di Spagna 

(Veduta di Piazza di Spagna). Etching. Ca. 1750. 

Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain 

Image from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

143

PART II. 



Via della Mercede, 21 

Colin property 

144


PART II. 

When The American University of Rome was 

founded, David T. Colin generously offered 

his property in the center of Rome as the 

official headquarters of the University. The 

two-bedroom apartment near the Spanish 

steps hosted the administrative offices 

of AUR, the Student Union, and a small 

classroom space. Convivial events that Joan 

Carpenter (Colin’s wife and Dean of Students) 

organized—usually Sunday pizza parties—were 

held at the Colin residence on Via Cassia. 


1 

1. Front of CIVIS. 


archives. 

145

PART II. 



Thanks to Colin’s contacts, AUR 

classes and dorms were located in the 

Montemario neighborhood at the then 

CIVIS (Casa Italiana Viaggi Internazionali 

Studenti) center. CIVIS, Loyola University’s 

headquarters in Rome since 2009, was 

founded in 1962 by Reverend John P. 

Felice, a Maltese Jesuit who served as an 

intelligence officer in the British Eighth 

Army during World War II. 

Between 1969 and approximately 1980, 

The American University of Rome shared 

CIVIS spaces with other American and 

International universities that offered study 

abroad programs in Rome. 

2 

146 


the CIVIS dorms in 


AUR archives.


PART II. 

3 

4 


5 

3. Students at the 

CIVIS dining hall in 


AUR archives. 

4. Pizza party at the 

Colin residence on Via 

Cassia in 1975. Photo 


5. Pizza party at the 

Colin’s residence on 

Via Cassia in 1975. 


147

PART II. 



Viale delle Milizie, 6 

148


PART II. 

1 


As AUR grew steadily, its demand for more 

space to host more students became 

imperative. In addition, student strikes and 

squatting at the CIVIS facilities made the 

use of the space on the Nomentana less 

than ideal. It was then that President Colin 

arranged for the renting of a space in the 

Prati neighborhood, more precisely on Viale 

delle Milizie, 6. The facilities there consisted 

of three classrooms, an office-seminar 

room, and a garden. The administrative 

offices, a student lounge, and a classroom 

remained in the Colin property near Piazza 

di Spagna and the library space used by 

students was the British Council Library. 

This was a temporary solution, as the 

University was growing at a fast pace. 

The Viale delle Milizie facilities were shared 

with the Istituto delle Comunicazioni led 

by a Mr. Alberto J. Sciaky, who was part 

of a prominent Jewish family and an 

acquaintance of Colin. Having left CIVIS, 

housing for students was in lodging houses 

or pensioni. Some of the lodging houses 

that had an agreement with AUR were 

Pensione Paradiso, Pensione Chindano, 

and Pensione De Petris. Most of these still 

exist today. 

1. Viale delle Milizie 


AUR archives. 

149

PART II. 


2 


3 

150 

2. Prof. Michael Rudd 

(top right) teaching 

Roman Literature in 

Translation in 1983 

at AUR. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

3. Students outside 

Pensione Paradiso. 


archives.


PART II. 

4 


5 

4. Students in a 

room of one of the 

pensioni. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

5. Viale delle Milizie today. 

Photo by Ellie Johnson. 

151

PART II. 



Via Marche, 54 

Scala B, 5th floor 

152


PART II. 

1 

In June 1984, The American University of 

Rome moved to Via Marche, 54. A couple 

of minutes away from the American 

Embassy and Via Veneto, AUR facilities 

included administrative offices, classrooms, 

a conference room, and a small library 

with mostly course-related books. 

Classes were still held mostly on-site and 

academic fieldtrips were a pivotal part of 

the curriculum. Today, the apartment is a 

private residence. The doorwoman there 

has worked in the building since before AUR 

was there. 


1. Entrance to 

Via Marche in 

the early 1980s. 


archives. 

153

PART II. 


2 


3 

154 

2. Entrance to Via Marche today. 

Photo by Ellie Johnson. 

3. Roberto, the barista of Caffe Tazza d’Oro 

on Via Marche. He has been working at the 

coffee bar since the 1970s and still remembers 

AUR students and professors who came to 

have coffee there. Photo by Ellie Johnson.


PART II. 

4 


5 

4. Via Marche street 

view today. Photo by 

Ellie Johnson. 

5. Via Marche street 

view in 1983. Photo 


155

PART II. 



Piazza Sallustio, 24 

156


PART II. 

1 

As AUR grew, its expansion project 

continued. In 1986, the University rented 

an apartment overlooking the ancient Villa 

of Sallust where the Gardens of Sallust— 

formerly the Gardens of Caesar—once 

blossomed. The Via Marche apartment 

remained the main headquarters, with 

administrative offices, library, and 

auditorium, while the Piazza Sallustio, 24 

location hosted most classrooms. 


1. Piazza Sallustio 

street view. Photo 


157

PART II. 


2 


3 

158 

2. Piazza Sallustio 

AUR headquarters. 


archives. 

3. Possibly student 

lounge at Piazza 

Sallustio. Photo from 

AUR archives.


PART II. 

4 


5 


Piazza Sallustio 24 

today. Photo by Ellie 

Johnson. 

5. Classroom at 

Piazza Sallustio. 


archives. 

159

PART II. 



Via Sallustiana, 1A 

160


PART II. 

Shortly after renting the first apartment 

in Piazza Sallustio, the need for a 

more practical space for the library led 

then- President John Falconieri to search 

for somewhere to move the library closer 

to the Sallustio quarters. He found a spot 

right on the Piazza, in an elegant corner 

building. In this way, the disposition was 

more efficient, with the administrative 

offices on Via Marche and most of the 

teaching, studying, and conferences 

focused at the Sallustio locations. 


1 

1. View of the Gardens 

of Sallust from a window 

of Via Sallustiana 

1A. Photo from AUR 

archives. 

161

PART II. 


2 

3 


3 

162 

2. The entrance of 

Via Sallustiana 1A 

today. Photo by Ellie 

Johnson. 

3. The doorman of the Sallustiana 

Center was known for his charm 

and humor, so much so that he 

was featured in the AUR catalogue 

of 1989-1990. Photo from 

AUR archives.


PART II. 

4 


5 


Library front desk. 


archives. 

5. AUR students studying at the 

Library of the Sallustiana Center. 


163

PART II. 


6 


7 

164 

6. Prof. Alex Liberto 

in the classroom 

at the Sallustiana 

Center in 1989. Photo 



studying at the 

Library of the Sallustiana 

Center. Photo 

from AUR archives.


PART II. 

8 


8. The American University 

of Rome facilities map. 

Academic catalogue 1989-1990. 


165

PART II. 



Via Collina, 24 

166


PART II. 

1 

By the end of 1990, AUR left the Via Marche 

apartment and fully completed the triangle 

of the ruins of the Villa of Sallust. Moving 

out of the close vicinity of Via Veneto, 

the administrative offices, the computer 

laboratory, the bookstore, and some 

classrooms were housed in the Via Collina 

apartment. The other two apartments on 

the Piazza continued to host classrooms, 

offices, and the AUR Library. 


1. View from Via 

Collina 24. Photo 


167

PART II. 


2 


3 

168 

2. Interior view of 

AUR facilities at Via 

Collina. Photo from 

AUR archives. 


Via Collina 24 today. 

Photo by Ellie Johnson.


PART II. 

4 


4. The American University 

of Rome facilities map. Academic 

catalogue 1991-1992/1992-1993. 


169

PART II. 


5 


6 

170 

5. Non-smoker student 

lounge at Via Collina 

facilities. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

6. Computer laboratory, 

Via Collina. Photo from 

AUR archives.


PART II. 

7 


8 

7. AUR students outside 


AUR archives. 

8. Computer laboratory, 


AUR archives. 

171

PART II. 


1 



172


PART II. 

The American University of Rome was 

growing at a fast pace. Moving to a single 

space that would resemble an American 

university campus had been a goal for 

AUR’s leadership for quite some time. In 

1993, with Robert Severino as President, 

AUR found a building atop the Janiculum 

Hill that was a fitting solution for the needs 

of the time. Owned by the Vatican and 

administered by the Barnabite order, the 

property was a drastic change in location: 

from the city center to the primarily 

residential Monteverde. 


1. Building B when 

AUR first moved to 

Via Pietro Roselli 4 


AUR archives. 173

PART II. 


2 


AUR initially rented and refurbished 

only one of the buildings (what today 

is known as Building A). Formerly a 

radio broadcasting studio, the building 

underwent several renovations to make it 

suitable to the University’s needs. As the 

students increased and there was more 

need for space, AUR started expanding, 

renting a portion of the adjacent Barnabite 

building (now known as Building B) and 

the Barnabite guest house (which once 

housed administrative offices, and is today 

the site of the AUR Library). The Auriana 

Auditorium, the Carini Building, and Masina 

Art Studios were added later, extending the 

campus to three nearby locations. 

3 

174 

2. Terrace of Building A 

before AUR moved in 1993. 


3. Building A before 

renovations: 

Entrance and garden 


AUR archives.


PART II. 

4 

5 

6 



renovations: radio station, 

ground floor of Building A 


AUR archives. 


renovations: this was 

the radio recording 

studio in 1993. Photo 


6. Building A after 

renovations in 1995. 


175

PART II. 


7 


8 

9 

176 

7. AUR auditorium 

and classroom, ground 

floor of Building A in 1995. 


8. Ground floor of 

Building A, from auditorium 

to computer lab. Photo 


9. Building A Terrace. 



PART II. 

10 

11 


10. Staircase of Building A 

(no elevator yet). 


11. AUR Library in Building B, 

1st floor. Photo from AUR archives. 

177

PART II. 


12 


13 

178 

12. AUR Garden in the 

early 1990s. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

13. Building A in 2003. 

Photo by Anthony Fassero. 



PART II. 

14 

15 


14. AUR Garden in 2003. 



15. Building B in 2003. 



179

PART II. 


16 


17 

180 

16. AUR Library, 

Evans Hall, in 2005. 


17. Inside the AUR 

Library, Evans Hall, 


AUR archives.


PART II. 

18 


19 

18. Ground floor of Building A, 

from computer lab to lounge 

in 2017. Photo by Luigi Mistrulli. 


19. Garden Entrance 

to AUR. Photo from 

AUR archives. 

181

PART II. 


20 


182


PART II. 


20. AUR aerial view in 2013. 


183

PART II. 


21 


22 

184 

21. We are AUR 

during Open Day 


AUR archives. 

22. 4th of July celebrations 

with fireworks in 2018. 



PART II. 

23 


23.AUR Garden view 

in April 2015. Photo 


185

PART II. 


Chapter 5. AUR’s Neighborhood 

Chapter 5: 

AUR’S NEIGHBORHOOD 

The American University of Rome has, 

coincidentally, been located at the two 

locations of the Horti Caesaris, or the 

gardens that once belonged to Julius 

Caesar. The first locations of AUR, 

around Piazza Sallustio, were the site of 

the gardens belonging to Caesar on the 

Quirinal. After the death of Julius Caesar, 

Sallust acquired the gardens, hence their 

name. On the Janiculum, where AUR is 

today, the gardens of Caesar are famed 

for having hosted Cleopatra in 44 BC. 

186 

1. Triennale di 

Milano in May 

1968


PART II. 

1 


1. View from the Janiculum Hill, Rome, 

with the Villa Aurelia, Fontana dell’Acqua Paola 

and San Pietro in Montorio, J.M.W. Turner, 1819. 

Graphite and watercolor on paper. Tate Britain. 

187

PART II. 



The Janiculum Hill 

and Monteverde 

Although not one of the famous seven 

hills of Rome, Monteverde is the second 

highest hill of the city. Mostly a rural area, 

the neighborhood that extended from 

the Tiber and up the slope, hosted mainly 

small cottages and bigger villas, gardens, 

and vineyards. Monteverde was an area of 

summer houses and entertainment. The 

land where AUR is today, in fact, once 

encompassed all of the adjacent Villa 

Sciarra and much of the land that extends 

down to the river. In 1886, the then owner 

of the estate, Maffeo Barberini Colonna 

di Sciarra, and the Compagnia Fondiaria 

Italiana divided the land into lots to be 

sold. The Villa Sciarra and a portion of the 

surrounding gardens (what we know as the 

park today) remained, however, owned by 

the Colonna di Sciarra family. 

188


PART II. 

2 

The early 20th century saw the most 

activity atop the Janiculum. Even though 

a city plan for Monteverde had been in 

the works since the 1880s, it was only 

with Rome’s Mayor Ernesto Nathan that 

the plan was carried out. AUR’s current 

location was purchased by the Vatican and 

distributed amongst several congregations, 

some of which had recently fled from an 

increasingly secular France, back to Italy. 


2. View of Rome from the 

Janiculum from the early 1900s. 

Image available on the World Wide 

Web and part of public domain. 

189

PART II. 


3 


Monteverde underwent extensive 

construction that started in the 1920s, 

with the growth of the Fascist regime 

and its urban projects. Via di Donna 

Olimpia and its welfare housing were a 

relocation project that would allow the 

construction of Via della Conciliazione: 

one of the many Fascist initiatives to 

“re-monumentalize” Rome. A once 

aristocratic rural area, Monteverde quickly 

became a blend of people. Monteverde 

Vecchio saw the arrival of wealthy 

Americans (such as those connected to 

the building of the American Academy in 

Rome and the Wurts Family, who bought 

Villa Sciarra) and religious congregations, 

while the close by Monteverde Nuovo took 

in merchants and laborers. 

Monteverde has had its fair share of 

famous personalities walk its streets. 

Maurits Cornelis Escher, world renowned 

Dutch graphic designer, lived for almost 

a decade in a house on Via Poerio. After 

World War II, Monteverde saw the presence 

of important Italian personalities such 

as Giovanni “Gianni” Rodari (poet and 

author, famous for his children’s books), 

Pier Paolo Pasolini (film director, poet, and 

author), Attilio Bertolucci (poet, father 

of the famous film director Bartolomeo 

Bartolucci), and Miriam Mafai (journalist, 

politician, and one of the founders of the 

La Repubblica newspaper). Pasolini lived a 

portion of his life in the neighborhood: first 

on Via Fonteiana 86 and later on Via Carini 

45. Today, Monteverde is still the home 

of artists and intellectuals, such as film 

director Nanni Moretti, the sculptor Peter 

190 

3. Detail of the fountain 

of fauns near the entrance 

of Villa Sciarra. 

Photo by Jacob Moore. 



PART II. 

4 


Rockwell (son of famous painter Norman 

Rockwell), actresses Paola Cortellesi and 

Serena Dandini, actors Carlo Verdone and 

Pino Insegno, and pianist Nicola Piovani. 

When the lands of Maffeo Barberini 

Colonna di Sciarra were allotted and put 

on the market, Villa Sciarra was sold as 

well. Just across the street from AUR, Villa 

Sciarra is a place that has been meaningful 

to our community since the University 

moved to the Janiculum in 1993. The park, 

as all places in the Eternal City, has quite 

an interesting history. In 1902, George 

Washington Wurts, a retired American 

diplomat from Pennsylvania bought the 

Villa for 300,000 lire. Wurts had spent 

several years in Rome before being a 

diplomat in Russia, and once retired, he 

moved back to the city that had conquered 

his heart. In 1902, Wurts and his second 

wife Henrietta Tower moved back to the 

Italian capital and after purchasing the 

Villa, they invested all their time and 

energy in the restoration of the Villa and 

the gardens. Avid collectors of art and 

furniture, the Wurts restored the grandeur 

of the Villa and took the 19th-centurystyle 

gardens one step further. Filling the 

grounds with statues purchased in auction 

from Villa Visconti at Brignano (Lombardy), 

the gardens became an oasis of winding 

paths and suggestive imagery. In 1930, 

after the death of George Wurts, Henrietta 

Tower donated the estate to the state of 

Italy, or more precisely, to Mussolini. The 

donation, however, included the clause 

that the park be made public. In 1932, 

the Villa itself became the venue of the 

Istituto Studi Germanici, an institution that 

occupies it still today. 

4. Historical Map of 

Monteverde Vecchio 

from 1925. Valerio 

Varrale Collection. 

191

PART II. 


5 


192 

5. Detail of one of the sculptures 

of Villa Sciarra. Photo by Jacob 

Moore. Photo from AUR archives.


PART II. 

The gardens hold a myriad of wonders 

that are not commonly known. Firstly, 

within the gardens lie a Syrian sanctuary 

that was unveiled in 1906. The sanctuary 

probably dated to the late 1st century AD 

and hosted syncretized Romanized Syrian 

deities. The sculptures within the gardens 

also tell stories worth hearing. Originating 

from the Lombard aristocratic family 

of Visconti, several sculptures within the 

park, starting with the fountain of fauns at 

the entrance of the park in front of AUR, 

allude to the grass snakes depicted on the 

Visconti family shield. Worthy of note are 

also the Fountain of Vices (Rage, Lust, 

Greed, and Gluttony) and the statues for 

the Twelve Months of the Year. Villa Sciarra 

is an urban oasis that hosts Monteverde 

natives, their families, and their pets, 

as well as the artists and scholars of 

the American Academy and the young 

dream-filled students of The American 

University of Rome. 


6 

6. Pathway in Villa Sciarra. 

Photo by Jacob Moore. 


193

PART III. 

THE FUTURE 

THE 

FUTURE 

194

THE FUTURE 

PART III. 

“Rome is our classroom, Italy 

is our laboratory, the world 

is our potential.” 

-David T. Colin - 

195

PART III. 

THE FUTURE 

Chapter 6. Janus 

Chapter 6: 

JANUS 

By Laura Estrada Prada 

The American University of Rome has 

been a pillar of American education in 

Rome for the past 50 years. Offering 

students high caliber education in a city 

that serves as an open text book for culture, 

politics, philosophy, and civilization, 

AUR has established itself as a place 

that transcends higher education and 

offers life-changing experiences. In 2019, 

AUR marks its 50th Anniversary: 

celebrating 50 years of history while 

looking forward to the years ahead. What 

better symbol for this than the Roman 

god Janus, who gave the name to the hill 

where AUR stands today. 

Janus is the god of endings and new 

beginnings, of passages, transitions, and 

time. He is usually depicted with a dual 

face: one that looks back at the past, and 

another that looks forward to the future. 

The Janiculum—the “door” from Rome to 

Etruria—is named after the god Janus, as 

is made evident from the Gianicolense 

neighborhood shield. Whilst the actual 

nature and precise purpose of invoking 

Janus is debated, given that there is no 

evidence of temples or priests devoted 

to this deity, most modern scholars agree 

that —like Jupiter— he was summoned at 

the beginning of many rites. 

A god of time and progression, Janus 

symbolizes movement and change, 

past and future, youth and adulthood. 

Furthermore, as the god of all beginnings, 

Janus is also associated with omens and 

auspices. All these attributes make Janus 

the perfect way to “end” this narration of 

AUR’s history. 

AUR is changing for the better, aware of its 

past, and ready to embrace its future. It is 

an institution that serves as a formative 

cradle for students: a stepping stone 

between adolescence and adulthood, both 

educationally as well as professionally and 

personally. 

Therefore, let us all celebrate the first 50 

years of The American University of Rome, 

and raise a toast for the many decades 

still to come. 

196

THE FUTURE 

PART III. 

1 

Chapter 6. Janus 

1. Head of Janus, Vatican 

Museums, Rome. Photo by 

Loudon Dodd. Image licensed 

under the Creative Commons 

Attribution-Share Alike. 

197

PART III. 

THE FUTURE 

Conclusion 

Conclusion 

By Dr. Richard Hodges, OBE 

198

THE FUTURE 

PART III. 

‘IF WE COULD BE 

REBORN WHEREVER 

WE CHOSE, 

HOW CROWDED 

ROME WOULD BE, 

POPULATED BY 

SOULS 

WHO HAD SPENT 

THEIR PREVIOUS 

LIVES LONGING TO 

INHABIT A VILLA 

ON THE JANICULUM 

HILL’ 

Conclusion 

(Francine Prose, The New York Times review 

of Robert Hughes, Rome, 2 December 2011). 

199

PART III. 

THE FUTURE 

Conclusion 

AUR’s Brave New World 

The world is changing faster than any time 

in its history. Some historians have found 

parallels in the Renaissance when massproduced 

books, printed for the first time, 

and the bold discovery of the New World 

were just two elements that transformed 

European (and world) culture forever. 

Today, social media and globalization are 

two elements that have paved the way 

for a future in which robotics will displace 

many traditional jobs and call for a radical 

re-thinking of society. Jobs for life are a 

thing of the past. Instead, we need to 

envisage seven or more different careers, 

involving periodic re-training. 

200

THE FUTURE 

PART III. 

Many found the Renaissance to be 

terrifying as it up-ended traditions that 

were age-old. It is no secret that Gen 

Z, raised with digital tools, are just as 

concerned about the immense changes 

now overtaking us. Universities in the 

Renaissance provided places where the 

cultural and economic revolution was 

mediated and then advanced. So, today, 

universities must first and foremost 

confront change and equally provide the 

secure space for young minds to confront 

the digital revolution that is accelerating. 

AUR as it looks to its next 50 years is well 

aware of its responsibility to our students. 

We can look back with confidence on the 

evolution of our community. This is the 

basis for our belief in the future. 

More students than ever will want to 

experience globalization in this formative 

moment in their lives. In other words, AUR 

naturally serves a purpose that is growing 

in global importance as students want to 

leave their home comfort zones and face 

immersion in a genuinely international 

experience. What better place to do this 

than Italy, home of the Renaissance? 

What better city than Rome, where 

the past meets the present in so many 

different ways? Rome has become a multifaceted 

city. Famous for the Colosseum, 

the Forum of Rome, the Vatican and works 

by Caravaggio and Michelangelo, to name 

just a few of its attractions, it is the world’s 

supreme heritage city. Yet, of course, it is 

more than this. Half-way between Asia 

and America, and Europe’s window on 

Africa, the eternal city has a contemporary 

importance not just as a European capital 

but also as the seat of major global 

agencies handling critical strategies for 

feeding and managing future populations. 

Rome may be dazzlingly rich in terms of its 

artistic and archaeological heritage, but it 

is no less rich as a great global capital. 

AUR aims to be more than a place-holder 

in Rome. It is developing its curriculum 

for the coming decades, confident that 

its (Middle States) accredited signature 

programs will advance its students 

anywhere in the world. It aims to educate 

its students in critical thinking, problemsolving 

and communication, skills which 

in a robotic universe will have increasing 

importance. It aims, too, to create citizens 

of the world, passionate about what 

they do, and armed with international 

peer networks that endure for a lifetime. 

Lastly, it aims to immerse its students 

in international real-life experiences 

as distinctive parts of the curriculum. 

Conclusion 

201

PART III. 

THE FUTURE 

Conclusion 

One goal is to create opportunities for 

our students in a range of places from 

archaeological excavations and businesses 

that operate within conditions that offer 

a genuine intellectual challenge to each 

and every one of our community. We feel 

sure that whatever these internships and 

experiences consist of, they will provide 

a vital and unforgettable stepping stone 

to a work-place where changing careers 

repeatedly is the new norm. 

AUR is also being bold about its future 

campus location. Over the past 50 years 

we were initially in the centro storico, and 

then in a Barnebite monastery on the 

Janiculum Hill, part of Monteverde above 

Trastevere. We want to remain in this 

attractive district of Rome, but we aim to 

grow in size and offer increased facilities. 

world our students will take courage from 

their internationalization, their diversity, 

and their intellectual reasoning to become 

contemporary leaders. 

One final thought about our brave new 

world. We at AUR have faith that our 

future students will, to paraphrase the 

words of President John F. Kennedy, 

declaim proudly: We chose to go to AUR 

not because the program is easy, but 

because it is hard; because that will serve 

to organize and measure the best of our 

energies and skills, because the challenge 

is one that we are willing to accept, one 

we are unwilling to postpone, and one we 

intend to win. 

In this new educational context AUR aims 

to draw upon Rome’s eternal attraction 

to have visiting professors in residence to 

provide new and alternative experiences 

for our students. Our aim is to equip our 

students with an intellectual curiosity that 

will serve as armor in a world being defined 

by global standardization and robotics. 

Like the great seats of learning in the 

Renaissance, we want to take advantage 

of the new thinking and new opportunities 

that a digital world will provide. Our 

students must become resilient argonauts 

who sail without fear to new destinations 

and invent new ways of resolving old 

problems. In confronting this brave new 

202

THE FUTURE 

PART III. 

Conclusion 

President Richard Hodges and Laura Estrada Prada 

at Commencement ceremony in 2016. 

Photo by Luigi Mistrulli, AUR archives. 

203

References 

206 

(Image on previous page) AUR 

student on a field trip in Umbria 


Anon. “Villa Sciarra.” Roma Segreta. 18 

May 2013. https://www.romasegreta.it/ 

trastevere/villa-sciarra.html 

Colin, David. Letter presented to 1st Lt. 

James D. Walsh. Dated 30 November 

1945. Declassified file. Office of Strategic 

Services Personnel Files from World War 

II. The U.S. National Archives and Records 

Administration. 

Costanzo, Ezio. “Uno 007 in Sicilia. 

” La Repubblica. 10 July 2010. 

La Repubblica online archives. 

Gassaway, Special Agent J. H. Dated May 

26, 1942, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “Vittorio 

Umberto Tesoro; Internal Security - Ij 

Alien Enemy Control.” Declassified file. 

Office of Strategic Services Personnel 

Files from World War II. The U.S. National 

Archives and Records Administration. 

Geffcken, Katherine A., and Norma 

W. Goldman. The Janus View from 

The American Academy in Rome: 

Essays on the Janiculum. 2007: 

Mundus Media, New York. 

Spaulding, Stacy. “Exiled from Italy: 

The Golden Voice of Italy’s Propaganda 

Broadcasts (1932-1937).” Paper submitted 

to the History Division of the 2006 AEJMC 

annual convention. 

Spaulding, Stacy. “Totalitarian Refugee 

or Fascist Mistress?” Journalism History, 

34:3 (Fall 2008). 

Tasca di Cutò, Alessandro. Un Principe 

in America. 2004. Enzo Sellerio Editore, 

Palermo. 

Toaff, Daniel. “Quattro storie Americane.” 

Sorgente di Vita. Documentary film by 

RAI DUE. 1987. 

Zita, Tiziana. “Un salotto popolare a Roma: 

Monteverde.” Cronache Letterarie. http:// 

cronacheletterarie.com/2014/10/06/unsalotto-popolare-a-roma/ 

…And the photographic and document 

archives of The American University of 

Rome. 

Lisa Sergio papers, Booth Family Center 

for Special Collections, Georgetown 


207

The Story So Far - 50 Years of The American University of Rome

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