The study of international affairs at Harvard received a $21-million boost yesterday, thanks to Albert J. Weatherhead III '50 and the high-powered Weatherhead Foundation--founded in part by Former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger '50 in 1958.

The hefty donation has been given by Weatherhead, his wife, Celia and the Cleveland-based foundation to "strengthen, expand and endow" international studies at the Center for International Affairs (CFIA), according to a press release.

Weatherhead said yesterday that he and his wife worked closely with Harvard to identify the needs of the University in the field.

"We worked hand and glove with Harvard," Weatherhead said in a telephone interview last night. "What we're really trying to do is build Harvard, because it happens to be, in my view, one of the world's greatest places."

The gift will establish the Weatherhead International Relations Initiative, Which will sponsor collaborative work among researchers.

The donation will also benefit the CFIA's fellowship program, which each year brings together about 20 officials involved in the practical aspects of international relations, including diplomats and journalists.

Laura Smith, assistant director of communications in the University's development office, said Albert Weatherhead has supported Harvard for many years.

"He's a long-time friend of Harvard," she said. "He's in constant communication with the University's leaders."

Weatherhead said that is not the first gift he and his wife have given to Harvard.

"I think [the donation] is a tribute to my wife," he said. "We had done four professorships, and she said 'Let's raise our sites. Let's do something that's smashing, and that brings to Harvard and to the world something great."

President Neil L. Rudenstine said the endowment comes at a time of opportunity for the CFIA.

"We are extremely grateful to the Weatherheads for their generosity and for the confidence they've shown in the ability of our faculty and students to contribute to the understanding and conduct of international affairs," Rudenstine said in a press release.

Dillon Professor of International Affairs Jorge I. Dominguez, who will direct the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, said in a press release that the gift will allow for a "huge advance" in the center's ability to disseminate "research pertinent to the tasks that citizens and decision-makers face everywhere."

Weatherhead said that the money will be used to encourage a discussion of global issues.

"This moment is, from our view, one of the greatest opportunities of a life-time, because every word you hear these days is global," he said. "The world is getting much smaller, and if we don't take better care of each other and understand each other with clarity, then the next generation is going to have problems.