Frey leaves a long legacy of service to the United States and Central Florida. He had a hand in both establishing Kennedy Space Center as the home of the space shuttle program and appealing to President Richard Nixon to turn over McCoy Air Force Base to the city of Orlando. That base would later become Orlando International Airport.

The UCF connection started with Frey’s donation of his congressional archives to UCF in 2002 to create the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government. The institute promotes the development of enlightened, responsible and actively engaged citizens through experiential learning and civic education. That mission was boosted through a partnership with former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham to create the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship, which is housed in the Lou Frey Institute.

“Lou appealed to so many in this state for his honor, his attention to constituents and his love of Florida and his country,” says Stephen Masyada, interim executive director of the Lou Frey Institute and director of the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship.

Frey was an attorney by trade, holding positions as assistant county solicitor for Orange County and counsel for the Florida Turnpike Authority before running for office as a Republican. His tenure representing Central Florida extended five consecutive terms before retiring undefeated in 1979. He also ran for U.S. Senate and Florida governor.

His political influence continued long after leaving office, including stints as committee member on the presidential campaigns of Gerald Ford, Bob Dole and George W. Bush. Frey shared that wealth of knowledge as a frequent speaker through the institute on topics including homeland security, the space program, and church and state.

Senior Fellow Doug Dobson said Frey was happiest when he was surrounded by a group of students or teachers. His lectures extended beyond the surface level of “how government works” to include the mental and physical toll of running for office and the demands of life in the public eye. The result was one of the strongest civic education programs in the U.S, which, in turn, is producing students equipped for politics, Dobson says.

“Lou felt an incredible commitment to educating future public servants and passing along his experiences,” Dobson says. “That was part of his life’s mission.”

The value of civic education cannot be underestimated, says Kerstin Hamann, director of the School of Politics, Security and International Affairs, which houses the Lou Frey Institute. To fully exercise your rights as a citizen, you need to understand how the system works, what the Constitution represents, and our rights and processes, Hamann said.

“The Lou Frey Institute excels at providing K-12 students with the understanding they need to become educated citizens,” Hamann says.

While political science remains at the heart of the school and the academic curriculum, the new designation better reflects the broader scope of its mission and programs, says Kerstin Hamann, the school’s director and a Pegasus Professor.

“The scope of the school is much greater than that of a traditional department. The school designation immediately signals we have numerous opportunities for faculty and students interested in political science in general, but also more broadly in security and global affairs,” Hamann says.

College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson says the new designation makes it easier to attract top academic talent from around the globe and meet the growing demand from students entering careers in international affairs.

“It is important for us to seize this opportunity to continue expanding UCF’s global impact.” — College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson

“The department has developed rapidly in recent years, both in the scope of its programs and influence in the world. It is important for us to seize this opportunity to continue expanding UCF’s global impact,” Johnson says.

The school will continue to offer the same degree options to its graduate and undergraduate students, including those interested in American politics and pre-law. Among the program academic offerings are international and global studies, a master’s degree in political science, and a doctoral program in security studies.

“This renaming recognizes the growing prominence and scope of these valuable programs within the College of Sciences,” says Elizabeth A. Dooley, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “The change signals a bright future of service and impact as our academic enterprise evolves to better serve students, faculty, and workforce needs.”

Additional programs provide opportunities for partnerships, students and faculty, many of which have an international and interdisciplinary focus. These include UCF’s India Center and the Center for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity (GEOO); the Kurdish Political Studies Program; the Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence; and the Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies; and the Lou Frey Institute of Government and Politics, which has a broad focus on civics, especially K-12 civics education, in Florida.

Beginning in October, articles written at UCF started appearing regularly in the newspaper published in India with a circulation of more than 300,000 and an online presence around the globe.

The early focus of stories has been on the U.S. presidential election and results because of the potential effects on India, but various topics are on the horizon.

“We’ll take on subjects such as the impact of India’s culture in the United States, the lives and livelihoods of Indian-Americans, U.S. foreign policy and India, where Indian-American students go after graduating from U.S. colleges and universities, etc.,” said John C. Bersia, special assistant to the UCF president for global perspectives and co-chair of The India Center, who initiated the relationship. Kerstin Hamann, chair of the UCF Political Science Department, also co-chairs The India Center.

The potential for collaboration started when a delegation from India representing multiple news outlets was hosted in Orlando last spring by The India Center and others from the UCF and Central Florida communities. After discussing possible ties in the months that followed, representatives from The India Center at UCF were extended the opportunity to write in The New Indian Express.

Hamann said the collaboration has already evolved into a productive relationship.

“The regular contributions from The India Center in The New Indian Express significantly increases the visibility of the center in India and presents a high-profile partnership between UCF and the newspaper, but on a larger scale also between the two countries,” she said.

Bersia added that the new relationship will give UCF staff and students a special international experience: regularly presenting insights to primarily Indian readers on issues of importance to them.

“I believe the newspaper would say it benefits from having unique content originating in the United States that holds appeal for its main audience,” he said. “Further, the effects go beyond the United States and India, given that the online versions of the pieces greatly extend their reach.”

So far, articles in the publication have been written primarily by Shannon Payne, a recent UCF graduate, and Pratyush Goberdhan, the UCF India Fellow this semester. Payne, a senior program assistant for The India Center and the Global Perspectives Office, majored in anthropology and minored in diplomacy. Goberdhan, a junior majoring in international and global studies, also minors in French and art history. Stories have featured comments from several Indian-American students at UCF.

are available for reading on The India Center’s website.

Payne said the writing collaboration will provide the opportunity to share with a broader audience the research capabilities of The India Center because many of the articles have a research component provided by the center.

“This partnership showcases the way international, professional exchanges are ideally supposed to work,” Bersia said. “They’re designed to plant seeds for ongoing, mutually beneficial interaction – communication, idea-sharing, collaboration, future exchanges, etc. – and possibly more-involved partnerships.”

The India Center, supported by The India Group Annual Fund, The Anil and Chitra Deshpande India Program Endowed Fund and the India Studies Fund of the Global Connections Foundation, was established in 2012. It is housed in the Political Science Department in the College of Sciences at the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą.

Kerstin Hamann, Philip H. Pollock and Bruce M. Wilson have replaced the publication’s founding editors, John Ishiyama and Marijke Breuning, both from the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą of North Texas, who became editors of the American Political Science Review.

Hamann, chair of the political science department, has been at UCF since 1995. Pollock came to the university in 1982, and Wilson in 1995.

The Journal of Political Science Education is the official publication of the Political Science Education section of the American Political Science Association. The publication’s goal is to discuss the teaching and learning about politics.

Issues that have particular consequences for small countries, including those in the Caribbean, will be the focus of a new program at the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą.

The Isle of Man Small Countries Program aims to develop greater awareness about small countries; encourage the exchange of information about their security, political, economic, social and environmental issues; and facilitate links between UCF and those countries. Toward those ends, it will present public discussions involving prominent speakers, panels and other meetings; encourage scholarship; and work with partners from the United States, the Isle of Man and the Caribbean.

The program is a cooperative undertaking of UCF’s Global Perspectives Office, UCF’s Political Science Department, the Small Countries Financial Management Centre (SCFMC) on the Isle of Man, and the Global Connections Foundation. It is supported by the Ellan Vannin Fund of the Global Connections Foundation, in association with the Isle of Man business community.

“This small-countries initiative represents yet another step in UCF’s efforts to sharpen its international focus and bring more global content into the regional mainstream,” said John C. Bersia, special assistant to the president for Global Perspectives at UCF.

Tim Cullen, executive director of the SCFMC, said the program will build upon the work of the center “in underscoring and addressing the unique challenges facing small countries, which are disproportionately affected by global forces.” Cullen added that the SCFMC “was established with the purpose of contributing to the growth and prosperity of small countries through education programs that provide improved skills in government financial activities.”

Kerstin Hamann, chair of the Political Science Department at UCF, said “the program represents an excellent opportunity for cooperation in light of our new Ph.D. program in security studies, as well as many of our other global interests.”

Because of UCF’s proximity to and connections with the Caribbean, the program will have a special focus on that region, but it will also promote awareness and discussion of small-country issues throughout the world.

Hamann, who also directs the program for the European Studies minor, has earned several prestigious awards over the years including the College of Sciences Excellence in Professional Service Award and the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ą Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.

Before being elected vice president of APSA, Hamann held several other leadership positions within the organization including chair of the Standing Committee on Teaching and Learning.

As an active member of thenational political science community, Hamann also belongs to the Southern Political Science Association, Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics and Council for European Studies.

Founded in 1903, the American Political Science Association in Washington, D.C.  is the leading professional organization for the study of political science and serves more than 15,000 members in over 80 countries. The association brings together political scientists from all fields of inquiry, regions, and occupational endeavors in order to expand awareness and understanding of politics.