Affiliated Faculty

Associate Professor of Philosophy

John is an associate professor of philosophy whose primary areas of research include moral philosophy and applied ethics, especially the ethics of emerging technologies such as AI and synthetic biology. He teaches courses in moral philosophy, ethics …

Associate Teaching Professor, Program Lead, MS in Global Studies and International Relations

Fiona Creed’s career spans the diplomatic, academic, entrepreneurial and nonprofit sectors. She began as a policy analyst at the EU Delegation to the United Nations in New York City and developed that experience into her Ph.D. research on the often-fraught EU representation at the UN. As an assistant professor at University College in Cork, Ireland, Fiona taught international relations and European studies. Seeing a market opportunity, she went on to build and subsequently sell an online retail business in the United Kingdom. Upon returning to the United States, Fiona served as the Executive Director of the United Nations Association of Greater Boston, a nonprofit organization that educates students in diplomacy and global issues through its experiential learning program, Model UN. Fiona also served as a project lead and advisor at SOLVE MIT. Fiona completed her BA and MA degrees at University College, Dublin, Ireland, and her Ph.D. at University College, Cork, including two years as a visiting scholar at the Yale University MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies.

Affiliated Faculty of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; University Distinguished Professor of Law

Professor Davis teaches Constitutional Law, US Human Rights Advocacy and Professional Responsibility. She is a faculty director for the law school’s Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy and the NuLawLab. In 2015-2016, she held the Fulbright…

Professor of Political Science; Founding Director, Global Resilience Institute and Defense Industrial Base Institute

Professor Flynn is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on critical infrastructure and supply chain resilience. He has led teams in conducting post-disaster resilience assessments, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the U.S…

Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

Denise Garcia is a Professor at Northeastern University, a founding faculty member of its Experiential Robotics Institute, and recently appointed to the Global Commission on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military. Her latest book is The …

Graduate Program Director for MA in International Affairs; Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science

Julie Garey specializes in international relations, US foreign policy and national security, and international organizations. Her courses offer extensive experiential learning opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom. All courses are ce…

Dean’s Strategy Council Member

Janet Garvey spent 33 years in the US Foreign Service, retiring at the rank of Minister Counselor. She served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon from 2007 to 2010 where she instituted a number of programs to fight corruption, promote …

Chair and Professor of History

Gretchen Heefner teaches and researches the history of the U.S. in the world, with a focus on militarization, the environment, and the surprisingly intimate relations between national security regimes and the everyday. Her latest book,Sand, Snow and …

Professor of Environmental Science and Public Policy

Brian Helmuth holds a joint appointment between the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, based at Northeastern’s Marine Science Center in Nahant. His research and teaching focus on predict…

Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs; Faculty Affiliate, Global Resilience Institute; Faculty Affiliate, Global Asian Studies Program

Risa Kitagawa studies the politics of transitional justice and conflict legacies. Her broader interests include human rights violations, post-conflict processes, political narratives, and public opinion. Her research spans countries in East Asia, Su…

Dennis was a pro-democracy lawmaker in Hong Kong elected as the sole representative of the legal profession in Hong Kong’s legislature from 2012-2020. During his time in office, Dennis focused on defending the rule of law and freedom, combating human trafficking and modern slavery, and at the same time advocating for democracy in Hong Kong. Due to his stance on democracy and freedom, Dennis was disqualified from elected office by the PRC National People’s Congress in November 2020. This was an unprecedented move by Beijing causing a wave of international criticisms. After leaving public office, he served as senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School from 2021-2023, and he was appointed as a distinguished scholar at Georgetown University in 2021. He is currently teaching at Northeastern University and serves as a faculty affiliate to the Center of International Affairs and World Cultures. Dennis continues to speak on the international level advocating for the rule of law, democracy, and the risks of authoritarianism. In recognition for his work, Dennis is the recipient of the 2021 Commonwealth Law Conference Rule of Law Award bestowed by the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, and the 2022 Distinction in International Law and Affairs Award bestowed by the New York State Bar Association (International Section). Dennis’ current work is focused on using his experience in public office to help inform policy makers in democratic countries around the world. In 2023, Dennis founded a global think tank on China policy research – China Strategic Risks Institute. It has a team of advisors across the fields of technology, economy, finance, law, security and foreign policy. The aim of the think tank is to defend democratic values globally in helping sdemocratic governments craft policy responses to the rise of authoritarianism.

Assistant Professor, AI Governance

Beatrice Magistro is an Assistant Professor of AI Governance with a joint appointment in the Department of Political Science and the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University.  She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from th…

Ryan Morhard works at the intersection of biotechnology, global health, and geopolitics. He is a Center Affiliate with Northeastern University’s Center for International Affairs and World Cultures, Global Public Policy Lead at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, an adjunct professor at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and a board member at WorldBoston. He previously directed policy and partnerships at Ginkgo Bioworks and, before that, led biosecurity and global risk work at the World Economic Forum. Earlier, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, he oversaw international partnerships for public health emergencies and represented the United States at the Biological Weapons Convention. He holds degrees in law and neuroscience.

Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs; Distinguished Professor of Philosophy

Serena Parekh is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs. She is the author of three books, including her most recent book, No Refuge: Ethics and the Global Refugee Crisis (Oxford 2020), which won the North Ameri…

Professor of Public Policy and Economics

Professor Prakash is a Research Fellow at CESifo, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), HiCN Households in Conflict Network (HiCN), Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Network Researcher, …

Assistant Teaching Professor of History

Malcolm F. Purinton is a Food and World historian whose work focuses primarily on the sociocultural relationships of empire, trade, and technology in the history of beer and brewing. His first book Globalization in a Glass: The Rise of Pilsner Beer t…

Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies

Simon Rabinovitch is the Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies, and he teaches and writes on a range of topics in European, Jewish, Russian, and legal history. His latest book is Sovereignty and Religious Freedom: A Jewish Histo…

University Distinguished Professor, International Business and Strategy; Director, Center for Emerging Markets

Ravi Ramamurti is an expert on strategy and innovation in emerging markets. He is University Distinguished Professor of International Business & Strategy and Founding Director of the Center for Emerging Markets at Northeastern U. (University Distinguished Professorship is the highest honor bestowed on faculty at Northeastern U.) Ravi obtained his BSc (Physics) from Delhi University, his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), where he received the Gold Medal for graduating first in his class, and his doctorate in business administration from Harvard Business School, where he was awarded the HBS Dissertation Fellowship.

Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Public Policy and Urban Affairs

Ann C (Anncy) Thresher is an applied ethicist whose work focuses on emerging environmental technologies and, in particular, what risks we’re warranted in taking to solve environmental crises. As part of this, she works with scientists and policy-make…

Dean, College of Social Sciences and Humanities

Kellee Tsai, PhD, became the new Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities on February 26, 2024. Her career spans leadership roles in higher education, most recently as dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science and Chair Profess…

Professor of Cultures, Societies and Global Studies

Prior to joining Northeastern Dr. Richard Wamai was a research fellow in the Takemi Program in International Health at Harvard School of Public Health. Before that, Dr. Wamai was a researcher at Oxford University (UK) Department of Social Policy. His…