John Nathan Cobb the preeminent fishery scientist of the Pacific Northwest for nearly 40 years. Thompson had offices in the College of Fisheries where, since 1925, he was Director of the International Fisheries Commission (now International Pacific Halibut Commission) charged with the management of, and research on, the Pacific halibut, "Hippoglossus stenolepis", fishery. A Ph.D. from Stanford University, Thompson was appointed Research Professor and Director of the new department on a part-time basis, as he remained Director of the International Fisheries Commission. He remained Director of the School until 1947 when he resigned to establish and head the UW's new Fisheries Research Institute.
Georgetown University Center for Latin American Studies Foreign Service and given its current name. Dr. Arturo Valenzuela, as director, oversaw the transition of the Latin American Studies Program into the Center for Latin American Studies. The current director is Dr. Marc Chernick. A major project of CLAS is the Political Database of the Americas, which centralizes information about the constitutions, governments, and political processes of countries within Latin America. The Center for Latin American Studies offers a master of arts degree in Latin American studies in addition to graduate and undergraduate certificates. It also offers joint degrees with the Georgetown Law Center and Graduate School of Arts