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Faculty and Scholars
Noteworthy scholars and practitioners from SIPA and Columbia University play a vital role at IGP.
Faculty Spotlight
IGP Faculty Grant Awards
IGP Faculty Grant Awards support original research and are designed to help faculty translate their scholarship into policy reports, public events, practitioner convenings, and other products that advance public understanding of pressing global challenges.
Faculty Advisory Board
An advisory board of SIPA faculty members from across the school’s key disciplines helps guide IGP and its work.
Chaired by Hillary Rodham Clinton, IGP’s Faculty Advisory Board comprises a diverse, interdisciplinary group of faculty whose work spans SIPA’s collective expertise. The Board helps set its policy agenda, contributes to the selection of Distinguished Fellows, and provides ongoing guidance on programming and policy impact work.
Global Policy Challenge Area Leads
- Democratic Resilience – Ester Fuchs, Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science and Director of the Urban and Social Policy Program, and Timothy Naftali, IGP Faculty Advisory Board Member and Columbia SIPA Senior Research Scholar
- Geopolitical Stability – Tom Christensen, James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations, and Victoria Nuland, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professors for the Practice of International Diplomacy
- Climate, Energy, and Sustainable Development – Doug Almond, IGP Faculty Advisory Board Member and Codirector of the Center on Environmental Economics and Policy, and Robert Metcalfe, Professor of Energy Policy and International and Public Affairs
- Technology and Innovation – Tamar Mitts, Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs, and Eric Verhoogen, Codirector of the Center for Development Economics and Policy and Professor of International and Public Affairs and Economics
- Inclusive Prosperity and Macroeconomic Performance – Jeffry Frieden, Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science, and Alan Taylor, Professor of International and Public Affairs
IGP Initiative Leadership
IGP is also home to faculty-led initiatives that house thematically linked projects and lines of inquiry cutting across any number of SIPA's five global policy challenge areas. They advance policy-relevant work through directed research, publications, partnerships, closed-door convenings, and events. Initiative activity is supported through targeted donations and contributors eager to advance IGP’s vision for impact.
- American Democracy Initiative – Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and IGP Faculty Advisory Board Member
- Ann F. Kaplan Women's Initiative – Jennifer Klein, Columbia SIPA Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Professional Practice, and Rachel Vogelstein, Columbia SIPA Associate Professor of Professional Practice
- Technology & Democracy Initiative – Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize-Winning Journalist, Cofounder and CEO of Rappler, and Professor of Practice of International and Public Affairs; and Camille François, Associate Professor of Practice of International and Public Affairs
Affiliated faculty
IGP draws on the deep resources of Columbia University to achieve its goals and more. Our affiliated faculty extends beyond the walls of SIPA, embracing a broad swath of scholars across Columbia’s three undergraduate schools and 13 graduate and professional schools.
IGP Affiliated Faculty in the News
IGP Ann F. Kaplan Women's Initiative
“To address the maternal health crisis in America, Washington must invest in a proactive agenda of healthcare access, affordability and equity,” writes IGP Ann F. Kaplan Women's Initiative Director Jennifer Klein.
Jul 13 2026
Ms. Magazine
IGP Technology & Democracy Initiative
The Preliminary Report of the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, cowritten by IGP Faculty Advisory Board Member Maria Ressa, is a first-of-its-kind independent scientific assessment of the capabilities, emerging opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence. It’s central warning: current safeguards cannot keep pace with the growth of AI’s capabilities.
Jul 01 2026
United Nations
IGP American Democracy Initiative
IGP American Democracy Initiative Director Alex Hertel-Fernandez joined the Future Hindsight podcast to discuss the intersection of policymaking, economics, and democracy.
Jun 25 2026
Future Hindsight
