AIYS Organization, Facilities, and Programs

Administrative Structure

AIYS, a not-for-profit (501(c)3) consortium of scholarly institutions, was founded in 1977. It is governed by officers elected by a Board of Directors. Specific programs are the responsibility of designated committees. Day-to-day oversight of AIYS activities is provided in the U.S. by the AIYS Executive Director and in Yemen by the AIYS Resident Director in Sana'a.

AIYS is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) and of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA).

Program Facilities in Yemen

AIYS facilities in Sana'a contain the AIYS office, library, and reading, meeting, and working rooms, as well as the AIYS hostel. Researchers who are individual members of AIYS can stay at the hostel for short periods or for the duration of a long research project. AIYS members who are hostel guests may arrange with the AIYS Resident Director to be met when upon arrival at the Sana'a airport.

The AIYS library, which is open to the public as well as to AIYS-affiliated researchers, has some 5000 books and a large collection of articles and is becoming one of the best basic collections in Yemen. It contains most of the serious scholarly works by Yemenis and non-Yemenis, as well as many books produced throughout and about Yemen, including a collection of Yemeni schoolbooks. There are also government reports, statistics, and laws from pre-unification North and South Yemen and from the unified state since 1990, as well as maps related to both North and South Yemen. The library also has a significant collection of development studies on topics such as urban and regional planning, agricultural production, health and family, etc. AIYS' collection of more than 170 dissertations dealing with Yemen gathers in one place an extensive body of research on Yemen not otherwise accessible; an effort is now being made to identify and acquire also the dissertations produced in Eastern Europe by scholars from South Yemen before the unification.

Sources of Support

AIYS derives its funding from the dues of institutional and individual members, from individual and corporate donations in cash and in kind, and from grants made by private foundations and public agencies. The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs supports AIYS programs through its umbrella grant for American Overseas Research Centers. The U.S. Department of Education has provided program support through an administrative infrastructure grant made under Title VI of the Higher Education Act (American Overseas Research Centers Program), as well as through its TICFIA foreign research resources grants. The support of all these entities is essential to the continued and effective operation of AIYS, and is gratefully acknowledged. For information on how to become an institutional member of AIYS, contact the AIYS office. To apply for individual membership in AIYS, click here.