machine. By 1966, MEI realized it could not survive without full-time leadership. Ambassador Raymond A. Hare stabilized the organization at a relatively low level of activity appropriate with its resources, concentrating on fundraising and expanding the base of corporate donations. As a result of these efforts, additional projects were financed by the Ford Foundation, a few conferences were organized for the U.S. Department of State, and the Rockefeller Foundation financed a series of discussion dinners. Georgetown University invited the Institute to hold its annual conference there, providing free accommodations and volunteer staff. In 1969, Ambassador Parker T. Hart led MEI into renewed activity. His vision for MEI to become an important national player led to an increased number of programs (like an annual conference on Middle East Business) and partnerships across the country and the world, a new internship program for undergraduate and graduate students, renewal of the MEI language program, and the publication of the Middle East Problem Papers. The 1970s The 1970s were marked by an unprecedented number of timely programs and events, many on the Cold War. Panels on Soviet Aims and Interests such as "The Arab–Israeli Conflict in View of the U.S.–Soviet Conflict" and "The Strategic and Political Dimensions on the Cold War" meant to provide the public with in-depth information. Furthermore, MEI started a program called "Dialogue" in 1974 in cooperation with the Arabist Travel Program. It sent small teams of scholars and students to seven Arab countries. The program was repeated in 1978, funded by the United States Information Agency and the State Department. MEI also introduced The Middle East Monitor, an insider newsletter, published between 1971 and 1975. Its logo is the source of MEI's current logo, which is adapted from the design on a 10th-century platter unearthed near Nishapur, Iran, and now in the collections of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The 1980s Taking on the MEI president's role in 1975, L. Dean Brown served until 1986—the longest presidential tenure in MEI's history. Under Ambassador Brown, MEI focused on business and investment opportunities between the Middle East and the United States. The 1980s also saw a continued increase in MEI's research and program ventures on issues like the theocracy of Iranian Islamic Clergy and Egyptian perceptions of the U.S. presence in Egypt. After having already served a short term as MEI's president from 1974 to 1975, Ambassador Lucius D. Battle returned