 The Vinson Institute offers training programs for public officials and staff, conducts research on a broad range of questions relevant to state and local governments, and provides assistance to help those governments and agencies run more efficiently and effectively.Originally established at the University of Georgia as the Institute of Public Affairs in 1927, the organization was charged with providing “a forum to study international, national, state, and local affairs and to make recommendations for improved governance.” It combined research, technical assistance, training, and publications.Over the course of the following decades, the Institute of Public Affairs expanded to address the needs of the state’s rising population, and it underwent several name changes—Institute for the Study of Georgia Problems (1938), Institute of Law and Government (1953), and Institute of Government (1965).