Depok – In a significant contribution to international scholarship and academic exchange, the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University in the United States has donated 3,565 books to Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII). The collection was formally presented at a ceremony held at the Jusuf Kalla Library on 14 August 2026. The donation reflects a distinguished institutional partnership led by Deborah Cohen, Director of the Buffett Institute and Richard W. Leopold Professor of History at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences. The initiative also brought together Laura Hein, Director of the Arryman Scholars Program and Harold H. and Virginia Anderson Professor of History, and Zachary Shulman, Program Coordinator for Global Collaboration and Equality Development & Globalization Studies (EDGS).

Established in 1851 in Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern is a distinguished private research university with a major campus in Chicago. As a member of the Big Ten, it commands an international reputation for research excellence and academic distinction across fields including journalism, business, engineering, and political science.

The donation was received on behalf of the university by Dr Phil Syafiq Hasyim, Director of the JK Library and UIII Vice Rector for Academic Affairs. Dadi Darmadi, PhD, Head of UIII’s Media and Communication Office, joined members of the university’s academic community at the ceremony. The occasion marked a consequential milestone in the advancement of academic relations between UIII and Northwestern University, while substantially enhancing the Jusuf Kalla Library’s holdings in global scholarship.

Gde Dwitya Arief Metera, Ph.D., a faculty member at UIII and a Northwestern alumnus, noted that the 3,565-volume collection would make an enduring contribution to the Jusuf Kalla Library, affording UIII students, lecturers, and researchers providing wider access to leading international scholarship. Gde teaches in the MA Political Science and MPP in Climate Change programs. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern, where he was an Arryman Scholar.

UIII extends its profound appreciation to Northwestern University and the Buffett Institute for their generosity and steadfast commitment to the international exchange of knowledge. The university anticipates that this exceptional contribution will provide a lasting foundation for an increasingly substantive partnership in education, research, and global academic engagement. []