The Sigur Center for Asian Studies is a university research institute and the academic home of the Asian Studies Program of the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. Its mission is to increase the quality and broaden the scope of scholarly research and publication on Asia, promote US-Asian scholarly interaction and educate a new generation of students, scholars, analysts, and policymakers. The Sigur Center promotes research and policy analysis on East Asia, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia through an active program of publishing, teaching, public events and policy engagement. The Center offers students the largest Asian Studies program in the Washington, DC metropolitan region, with around 83 faculty members working on Asia. The Center was founded in 1991 out of the Sino-Soviet Institute. It was named for Gaston Sigur (1924-1995), a Japan specialist with a long career at The George Washington University, the National Security Council, and the US Department of State. It has enjoyed status as a signature program of the university since 2003.