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\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEnid Schoettle, who served as Director, then Vice-President of the Ford Foundation’s International Affairs Program between 1976 and 1993, died on 18 October 2018, at the age of 79. During her tenure she was closely involved with the work of the IISS, most importantly in the support the Foundation provided under her leadership for two initiatives, launched in the 1970s, that gave us a measure of financial independence and permanence: a building of our own in central London and an endowment.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Ford Foundation had, of course, been a long-standing supporter of the original Institute for Strategic Studies, providing the first general grant to get us going in 1958 and never failing us later. We lived a frugal but affordable existence. With a staff of no more than 25, ten of whom were employed on a one-year basis, the income from membership fees and publications sales, coupled with project funding from various foundations, had seemed sufficient, as were the modest offices on the two floors we rented in 18 Adam Street from the Royal Society of Arts.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut it was increasingly obvious that this could not last. The going rate for office premises in central London rose incessantly, as did the cost of personnel, and foundations were averse to offering funding to meet general operations costs. The Institute’s Council responded by successfully setting up a Building Fund, to which we asked members, foundations and – exceptionally – friendly governments for contributions. As a result, we were able in 1978 to purchase a building in Covent Garden. Shortly afterwards, and encouraged by a major matching fund from the Ford Foundation, the IISS, for the first time, became able to draw on a sizeable endowment.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEnid Schoettle was instrumental in that effort. Throughout, she was a critical, if sympathetic sponsor, providing encouragement and thoughtful suggestions, which she \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003edelivered with her proverbial youthfulness, a shy, pixyish charm and unobstrusive authority. And she was fun to be with. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAn expert on international security and arms control in her own right, she held a PhD from MIT and had authored work on nuclear proliferation. In 1976, she turned down the offer of tenure at the University of Minnesota to join the Ford Foundation in New York.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHer time there brought out all her talents, knowledge and judgement, and her commitment to a better, safer world. Although she went on to hold important positions in the US National Intelligence Council, the Ford years must have been the most rewarding in her professional life. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn addition to the IISS, she empowered a range of other centres and individuals to join a community of non-governmental experts working on nuclear-weapons competition and nuclear proliferation.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhile many factors and individuals contributed to the amazingly peaceful end to the Cold War, the work of Enid’s community – by giving intellectual respectability to the instruments for restraining the awesome force of miltary arsenals – fostered a frame of mind that helped bring this outcome about.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEnid was much too modest to attribute this to her own efforts. But I think that, in her quiet way, she was conscious of her achievement. The IISS owes her a deep gratitude. She will be remembered by all who worked with her with admiration and affection.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","className":"richtext reading--content font-secondary"}), document.getElementById("react_5O5lYCB8Fk2UErxbtsK6Hw"))});
\u003cspan\u003eEnid Schoettle, a former Director and Vice-President of the Ford Foundation’s International Affairs Program, has died at the age of 79. She played an instrumental role in helping the IISS to gain a more secure financial footing in the 1970s, paving the way for the expansion of its activities.\u003c/span\u003e
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