IREX expands regional program activities to include China, Japan, and Mongolia.

1986
IREX moves its offices to Princeton, New Jersey.

Aleksandr Yakovlev, a 1959 exchange participant, is the first exchange alumnus to be appointed to the Soviet Politburo.
US public interest in the Soviet Union increases; applications for exchanges rise 25 percent after almost a decade of decline.

IREX expands regional program activities to include China, Japan, and Mongolia.