An historical account of the creation and development of the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE) is presented. Written in honor of the 50th anniversary of UIE, this institutional history begins with a series of seven prefaces and memoir essays about the organization written by UIE administrators, board members and researchers. Two chapters detail the founding and establishment of UIE, and present short portraits of these seven UIE pioneers: John West Robertson Thompson, Minna Specht, Paul Lengrand, Gottfried Hausmann, Paulo Freire, Bogdan Suchodolski, and Maria Montessori. Following these is a chapter, organized by decades, devoted entirely to the activities of UIE since its inception. The final chapter focuses on the present day activities of UIE and its current emphasis on lifelong learning and non-formal education. Publications of the UIE are next featured, including photographs of covers of the International Review of Education and other selected publications. Captioned photographs of both the founding and current staffs precede brief biographies of all UIE directors. Historical essays are included from these three UIE directors: Tetsuya Kobayashi, Ravindra Dave, and Paul Blanger. Among the final lists and appended material are a list of governing board chairpersons; a list of governing board members from 1951-2002; a UIE chronology; a list of UIE conferences from 1952-2002; and an index of the 45 photographs included. (AJ)