The Middle East Institute (MEI) will be relocating its offices from its historic brownstone townhouse on February 1, 2017 for an expected 2-year renovation as part of the Institute's expansion campaign. The Institute's temporary offices will be located around the corner of the same block, at 1319 18th St NW.

The expansion and renovation will see a significant transformation of the Institute's headquarters, including the addition of an art gallery, a state-of-the-art broadcast studio, a larger conference space, and enhanced classrooms.

The building that will house the temporary offices on 18th St. was built in 1900 and features an elegant 3-story spiraling staircase and an ornate ballroom that will host MEI's public events and roundtables.

The Oman Library at the Middle East Institute will not be open to the public during the renovation period, but MEI members will be able to borrow books on request. The Institute's Languages and Regional Studies classes will continue to operate normally in the temporary building. Telephone service may be disrupted while offices are being relocated this week, but staff will continue to be reachable by e-mail.


The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-for-profit, educational organization. It does not engage in advocacy and its scholars’ opinions are their own. MEI welcomes financial donations, but retains sole editorial control over its work and its publications reflect only the authors’ views. For a listing of MEI donors, please click here.