Professors of Practice

Our professors of practice are respected leaders in foreign affairs with decades of experience in diplomacy. They spearhead the Weiser Diplomacy Center’s mission to provide practical training in foreign affairs and to engage with the international policy community. They teach courses, mentor students, and chair policy workshops and symposia to help equip the next generation of foreign affairs leaders. They also contribute to ongoing conversations about diplomacy and international affairs, sharing expert analysis in the media, consulting with policymakers, and participating in study missions, dialogues, and boards. They are full members of the Ford School faculty, participating in the school’s governance and helping to shape our curriculum and programs to meet the needs of rising policy professionals.

AMBASSADOR MELVYN LEVITSKY

Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky (levitsky@umich.edu), a retired career minister in the U.S. Foreign Service, is a professor of international policy and practice at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. He also serves a a senior advisor at the Weiser Diplomacy Center. Prior to joining the University of Michigan in the fall of 2006, Ambassador Levitsky taught for eight years as professor of practice in public administration and international relations at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He has also taught at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). In 2003, he was elected by a vote of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and reelected in 2007, to a seat on the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), an independent body of experts headquartered in Vienna and responsible for monitoring and promoting standards of drug control established by international treaties. He served on the INCB until 2012. During his 35-year career as a U.S. diplomat, Ambassador Levitsky was ambassador to Brazil from 1994-98 and before that held such senior positions as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, executive secretary of the State Department, ambassador to Bulgaria, deputy director of the Voice of America, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights. He also served as director of the State Department's Office of UN Political Affairs and as officer-in-charge of U.S.-Soviet Bilateral Relations. Earlier in his career he was a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and a consul at U.S. Consulates in Belem, Brazil and Frankfurt, Germany.

AMBASSADOR SUSAN PAGE

Susan Page Ambassador Susan D. Page (sdpage@umich.edu), a former diplomat, joined the Ford School faculty, and the Weiser Diplomacy Center in 2020 as a Professor of Practice in International Diplomacy. She also serves as a Professor from Practice at the Law School. Ambassador Page has served the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations in senior roles for decades, across East, Central, and Southern Africa, and in Haiti and Nepal. She was the first U.S. ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan and served as deputy assistant secretary of State for African Affairs, covering Central and Southern Africa, and Sudan; legal adviser to the regionally-led peace process that resulted in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) for Sudan. Ambassador Page also served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH). Among her other roles, she was attorney-adviser for Politico-Military Affairs in the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser, USAID regional legal advisor in Kenya and Botswana covering East and Southern Africa, and political officer in Rwanda.

VISTING PRACTITIONERS

The Ford School and Weiser Diplomacy Center also engage expert practitioners for shorter-term instructional roles. Visiting adjunct professors of practice teach regular courses in our curriculum. For example, in spring 2020, Ambassador Richard Boucher and Carolyn Brehm co-taught a course on influence in foreign affairs. In fall 2020, Dr. Bama Athreya is teaching a course on gender, trade, and development. Visiting practitioners also teach shorter modules, simulations, and short courses. Recent visiting instructors include Ambassador Dan Shields and Ambassador Susan Elliott.

Expanding Our Team

With the generous support of the Weiser family, we plan to hire two more professors of practice in international diplomacy in the near future. Details of the position are available here and please feel free to contact us with any questions or to express interest in this opportunity.

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AMBASSADOR MELVYN LEVITSKY

AMBASSADOR SUSAN PAGE

VISTING PRACTITIONERS

Expanding Our Team