Because of a $4 million grant from the Coca-Cola Foundation, the School of Foreign Service will establish its first endowed chair for the Master’s of Global Human Development program. Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Development Steven Radelet was chosen as the new chair.
According to SFS Director of Outreach Gail Griffith, the SFS solicited funding from the Coca-Cola Foundation specifically for the purpose of funding a department chair for the program. “The application for the grant was the work of Dean Carol Lancaster, who, in conversations with the senior leadership of Coca-Cola and the Coca-Cola Foundation … negotiated the grant to its successful conclusion,” Griffith wrote in an email to the Voice.
The GHD program was created in 2012 to, according to GHD Director Ann Van Dusen, educate and train development practitioners for the twenty-first century. The program, which currently only has visiting and adjunct faculty, is one of the main priorities for the For the Generations to Come Campaign.
The funds will be used to seek resources for faculty, financial aid, and program-related activities, such as the program’s summer internships, skills clinics, and capstone project.
“This generous gift is the first step in building permanent faculty to lead and guide the program,” wrote Van Dusen in an email to the Voice.
According to Griffith, the SFS and the Coca-Cola Foundation have a history of working together, which is why the school reached out to it for funds and has worked with it on developing the program. “In addition to the generous gift endowing a Chair, we have students who intern with the company during their summer work program … [it] was one of the first organizations to join us as a partner in the Global Human Development program,” wrote Van Dusen.
Radelet has been distinguished professor in the GHD since December 2012 and previously served as Chief Economist for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He could not be reached for comment.
Van Dusen hopes Radelet’s appointment will provide “continuity in intellectual leadership and expertise” and enable GHD to play a “leadership role” in the Georgetown and global communities.
