A leading voice on the protection of civilians and Canadian foreign policy, Jennifer M. Welsh has been named the next director of 91社区鈥檚 Max Bell School of Public Policy, following an international search. Welsh will be taking over from founding director, economist Christopher Ragan, in January 2025.
Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Lisa Shapiro, said: 鈥淧rof. Jennifer Welsh, with her extensive experience, distinguished scholarship, her commitment to the Max Bell School of Public Policy鈥檚 distinctive emphasis on the practice of developing and implementing policy, and her vision both to solidify the School鈥檚 strength in the Canadian policy context and to extend its reach into a wider international policy community promises an exciting next phase in the development of the Max Bell School of Public Policy. We are all delighted that she is taking on this important role.鈥�
Welsh was cross-appointed in 2019 as the Canada 150 Research Chair in Global Governance and Security at 91社区 in the Department of Political Science and the Max Bell School of Public Policy, and has served as Director of 91社区鈥檚 Centre for International Peace and Security Studies. She was previously Professor and Chair in International Relations at the European University Institute and Professor in International Relations at the University of Oxford, where she co-founded the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict. From 2013-2016, she served as Assistant Secretary General and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on the Responsibility to Protect. She currently sits as a member of the IDP Protection Expert Group, co-led by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and UNHCR.
Welsh鈥檚 research focuses on contemporary challenges in global governance, conflict management, and Canadian foreign policy, including humanitarian action, collective responses to genocide and war crimes, the protection of civilians in armed conflict, and migration and displacement. Her most recent books include The Individualization of War (2023), Civilian Protective Agency in Violent Settings (2023), and The Return of History: Conflict, Migration and Geopolitics in the 21st century (2016), which was based on her CBC Massey Lectures. As Director of CIPSS at 91社区, she has led several collaborative research projects with Canadian and international scholars, built a vibrant community of faculty and graduate students interested in global affairs and Canada鈥檚 role in the world, and co-directed a Canada-wide research network on Women, Peace, and Security. Jennifer has frequently provided input into policy initiatives for the Canadian government and the United Nations, as well as for international NGOs, and is co-host of the bilingual podcast, Tour de Table. Her research and policy engagement have been recognized through her election as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and as International Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She sits on the Advisory Boards of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation and The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, and co-chairs the Committee on International Security of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Welsh has a BA from the University of Saskatchewan in Political Science, and a M.Phil. and D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar.
