SPP Announces George Soros Visiting Chairs for the 2016-17 Academic Year

June 22, 2016
George Soros

"SPP is proud to announce the incoming George Soros Visiting Chairs, who are all accomplished individuals in the field of public policy," said Julia Buxton, associate dean for academic affairs and programs at the School of Public Policy and member of the George Soros Visiting Chair Selection Committee.

Elżbieta M. Goździak, director of research at the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) at Georgetown University, will join SPP for the fall term 2016. Goździak will be teaching two courses on human trafficking and immigrant integration. She has published several books, including a volume on Trafficked Children and Youth in the United States: Reimagining Survivors (Rutgers University Press, 2015) as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles on human trafficking, immigrant integration, and undocumented children.

In the winter term, SPP will host two outstanding practitioners. Eamon Gilmore, adjunct professor at Dublin City University, former deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs and trade of Ireland (2011-14), is currently EU special envoy for the peace process in Colombia. He will share his knowledge and insights from the field of public policy. He will teach a course on "Governing at National and International Levels: the use of Compromise, Coalition-building, Partnership and Multilateralism".

Sidney Jones, director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta, previously worked for the International Crisis Group in Jakarta as senior adviser (2007-13) and Southeast Asia project director (2002-07). An expert on conflict and extremism in South-East Asia, particularly Indonesia, she will teach a course on "Government, Civil Society and Violent Extremism."

Carmen G. Gonzalez, professor of law at Seattle University School of Law, will join SPP as George Soros Visiting Chair in the spring term. She has published widely in the areas of international environmental law, environmental justice, trade and the environment, and food security, and is the co-editor of International Environmental Law and the Global South (Cambridge University Press, 2015). At SPP she will teach a course on "International Environmental Law and the North-South Divide."

The George Soros Visiting Chair at the School of Public Policy at CEU was established to celebrate the 80th birthday of George Soros, the founder of CEU and of SPP, and the Honorary Chairman of the CEU Board of Trustees. Funded by generous donations from his friends and family, the short-term visiting faculty position is awarded to scholars or practitioners who have demonstrated outstanding academic or professional achievement in the world of public policy. The previous George Soros Visiting Chairs were Yasmin Sooka, Anders Fänge, Karin Landgren, Mutayyam al O'ran, and Stephen Chan.

"This program provides our students with the opportunity to learn from top scholars and practitioners who make a great addition to the School's portfolio", said Buxton.