I am pleased to announce a program that has been in the works for quite some time.  SIPA has officially launched a new Global Fellows Program. The program will bring to campus each year a distinguished group of global leaders, each of whom has played a significant role in designing, shaping, or implementing solutions to critical global problems.

The first cohort of SIPA Global Fellows will include Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, Former Chancellor of Austria Alfred Gusenbauer, and Tung Chee Hwa, Former and first Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

The Global Fellows will serve as important resources for academic and professional programs across the University through public lectures, seminar meetings with faculty and students, mentoring SIPA students, and providing advice on research and teaching in their areas of knowledge and experience.

“The Global Fellows Program expands on a long tradition at Columbia, in particular at SIPA, of engaging world leaders in the research and educational mission of the university,” according to SIPA Dean John Coatsworth. “From the Columbia World Leaders forum, to special lectures and ongoing collaborative research projects, policymakers from around the world serve as a bridge between Columbia’s faculty, and students and a global community that faces tough policy issues on a daily basis,” he said.

Coatsworth acknowledged the support of Columbia President Lee Bollinger, who helped to recruit Annan and provided support for his new role at the University. Coatsworth also credited SIPA Advisory Board member James Leitner for supporting the appointment of Mr. Gusenbauer as the first Leitner Global Fellow. Gusenbauer presented a series of seminars co-sponsored by the European Institute earlier this month.

For more information on the Columbia-SIPA Global Fellows Program, please click here.