Baltimore – The official dedication and launching of the Arthur C. Helton Institute for the Study of International Social Service took place in the new offices of International Social Service-United States Branch on October 18, 2007. Among the over fifty guests celebrating the event at the organization’s fall open house included the family of Arthur Helton, representatives of the U.S. State Department, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS), Lutheran World Relief, University of Maryland Graduate School of Social Work and the Baltimore Mayor’s Office.
Ralston Deffenbaugh, President, LIRS and ISS-USA Chair Robert Hill, President, Hill Law Associates spoke to the gathering memorializing Arthur Helton’s contributions to International Social Service as well as to the academic and legal communities. ISS-USA staff, Julie Gilbert Rosicky, Executive Director and Dr. Felicity Sackville Northcott, Director, Arthur C. Helton Institute presented the current developments and future plans of the Institute.
The Institute, currently funded by the Jessie Ball Dupont Fund, is named for Arthur C. Helton, who, at the time of his death in the bombing of the United Nations Headquarters in Baghdad, was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ISS-USA. His work as a renowned lawyer and scholar will be continued at the Institute through the development of an intellectual center to provide education and training on issues that affect vulnerable children separated from the care of their families across international borders.