The Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities (MUCIA) was established in 1964 with the support of a grant from the Ford Foundation. Founding institutions included Indiana University, the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin, and Michigan State University. This organization worked to foster international cooperation, shared education, and economic development through the establishment of institutions of higher education in countries overseas. MUCIA also encouraged international research and education by training faculty members to teach at these international universities and by providing internships for graduate students wishing to conduct dissertation research abroad. The institutions developed by MUCIA emphasized programs in education, government, business, economics, and public administration in order to promote the growth of these countries' economies and governments. At the same time, the U.S. institutions involved in MUCIA hoped to strengthen the academic programs, instruction, research, and service at their own campuses.

MUCIA Board of Directors members from Indiana University included Lynne L. Merritt, Jr. from the Chemistry Department (1968-?), David R. Derge (1968-1972) and J. Gus Liebenow (1972-1974) from the Department of Political Science, and George M. Wilson (1974-1978) and John V. Lombardi (1978-?) from the History Department. Merritt served as Chairman of the Board from 1971-1974. These professors also held several administrative positions throughout their tenure at IU. Merritt served as Associate Dean of Faculties and Vice President and Dean of Research and Advanced Studies, Derge as Dean of Administration and Executive Vice President, Liebenow as Dean of Research and Advanced Studies and Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs, Wilson as Director of the East Asian Studies Center, and Lombardi as Director of Latin American Studies, Dean of International Programs, and Dean of Arts and Sciences. Additionally, University Presidents Elvis Stahr and John Ryan each served as Vice Chairman of the MUCIA Council of Institutional Members during their respective presidential terms.

Indiana University's most significant contribution through MUCIA was the establishment of the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) in Bangkok, Thailand. NIDA offered graduate-level instruction in economic development, statistics, and various areas of business and public administration. Four Indiana University faculty members from these fields comprised the original NIDA faculty and taught courses while also conducting research in Thailand. Indiana University had been assisting Thailand's programs of higher education since 1954, largely through the School of Education with grants from the U.S. Foreign Operations Administration (FOA) and the Agency for International Development (AID). These programs, along with faculty and student exchanges, focused on education and public administration in universities throughout Thailand between 1955 and 1964. In May of 1955, Indiana University signed a contract to establish an Institute of Public Administration (IPA) at Thammasat University in Bangkok. This institute would eventually be incorporated into NIDA.

It was not until 1965, after years of planning and negotiation, that the Ford Foundation provided a grant to MUCIA for the creation of NIDA. Indiana University was chosen to lead this project because of its close connections with the Thai government from previous educational endeavors. NIDA was officially established on April 1, 1966 and included Schools of Public Administration, Business Administration, Development Economics, and Applied Statistics, each with an inter-disciplinary core curriculum. Indiana University's Graduate School of Business served as the administrative management for this project. MUCIA and IU's support of the NIDA project lasted until 1977, when the Ford grant concluded.

The exact date when Indiana University withdrew from MUCIA is uncertain, but the last mention of this organization in the University Board of Trustees minutes is in September 1994.