The SSA's co-founders, Richard Lobban (the organization's first President) and Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, gathered the names of scholars interested in forming an Association for the study of Sudan. Notable among those who showed early interest were Dr. Constance E. Berkley of Fordham University and Dr. Jay Spaulding of Kean College of New Jersey (now Kean University), who served as the first Editor and Co-editor, respectively, of SSA publications. Dr. Berkley served as the SSA's first Executive Secretary,[4] and through her close ties with the Cultural Counsellor's office of the Embassy of Sudan in Washington introduced the Lobbans to Syd.