In 2006, East and Southeast Asia were experiencing rapid economic development and growing global engagement. American colleges and universities were increasingly looking to the region for academic connections and meaningful international experiences for students.
At the time, few organizations worked across the region to help institutions navigate those opportunities—a gap The Asia Institute was founded to fill.
For Chairman and CEO Bradley A. Feuling, the timing also carried personal significance. Travel and study in parts of Asia had become possible for his generation in ways unavailable to the generation before him. There was no guarantee the world would always remain as open or accessible, and helping students take advantage of those opportunities became an important part of the organization’s purpose.
Twenty years later, that purpose continues to shape The Asia Institute’s work.
Building Connections Across Asia
Since its founding, The Asia Institute has hosted more than 6,500 students on faculty-led customized programs throughout Asia, while also supporting students and institutions through semester programs, professional internships, international student recruiting, scholarships and joint-degree partnerships.
One of the organization’s most significant contributions came in support of the 100,000 Strong Initiative, launched during the Obama administration to increase the number of American university students studying and learning in China. The Asia Institute supported and hosted an estimated three percent of those students, becoming one of the larger organizations working directly with American students in China during that period.
Academic Innovation and Institutional Partnerships
The organization also gained recognition for its approach to academic program design. In partnership with Cleveland State University, The Asia Institute developed the Follow the iPhone Supply Chain Program, which GoAbroad recognized as the “Most Innovative Faculty-Led Program.” The program gave students firsthand academic and industry experience with global supply chains in Asia.
Over time, The Asia Institute’s role expanded beyond short-term, faculty-led travel. The organization has twice been selected by leading academic institutions to support the development of accredited academic centers in Asia, beginning with an academic degree program in Chengdu, China, and, most recently, a full-year academic study center in Kyoto, Japan.
Adapting and Expanding
The Asia Institute’s ability to adapt has also shaped its growth. When international travel was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization shifted from primarily short-term, faculty-led programs to expanded support for in-country semester programming. Over 18 months, The Asia Institute worked with more than 200 students, helping institutions and students continue their academic studies during significant uncertainty. The experience broadened the organization’s capabilities and reinforced the value of flexibility, adaptability and long-term institutional partnerships.
In 2026, The Asia Institute marked its 20th anniversary by launching The Kyoto Center, its second academic center, established and accredited in Asia. Developed in parallel to Pepperdine University’s Seaver College international programming. The Kyoto Center represents another step in The Asia Institute’s continued expansion from customized short-term educational travel into a partner for more comprehensive regional academic programming and professional development.
Expanding Access and Responsibility
Expanding access has remained central to the organization’s work. For more than a decade, The Asia Institute has awarded more than $60,000 to students studying abroad in Asia. That commitment continues with an expanded portfolio of 2027 scholarship opportunities and new partnerships designed to reach students across a broader spectrum of higher education. Learn more about 2027 scholarship opportunities.
Environmental responsibility has also been part of The Asia Institute’s approach. Between 2014 and 2018, it purchased approximately 4,000 trees through carbon-offset initiatives tied to its travel programs. With educational programming in Asia returning, The Asia Institute plans to resume the initiative and its emphasis on sustainable educational travel.
The Lasting Impact on Students
Behind those milestones are individual students whose experiences abroad continued to shape their education and careers long after they returned home.
One example is Nicholas Henderson, a former Franklin and Marshall College student who received an Asia Institute–Pennsylvania Council for International Education scholarship to study in China. He became fluent in Chinese and built a career centered on international education and Asia. His accomplishments include serving as an IIE Boren Fellow, being named a Young Leader by the Pacific Forum, working as a Teaching Fellow at Princeton in Asia and, today, serving as an assistant vice president and nonresident research fellow at the U.S. Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute.
Henderson’s story reflects the lasting impact The Asia Institute has sought to create through international education.
Looking Toward the Third Decade
As The Asia Institute enters its third decade, its work continues to evolve while remaining connected to the idea that shaped its founding in 2006: working closely with the four pillars of society—education, non-profit organizations, industry and the public sector—to create meaningful opportunities for students to experience, study and learn in Asia.
