Kent Calder named interim dean of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

Kent Calder, a specialist in East Asian political economy and director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, has been appointed interim dean of the school beginning July 1, the university announced today. He succeeds Eliot A. Cohen, whose two-year term as the school's ninth dean concludes on June 30 and who will remain a member of the SAIS faculty.

Calder will serve on an interim basis this summer while the search for SAIS's next dean continues on schedule with the expectation that a new dean will be in place prior to the fall semester. SAIS's next leader will move the school's Washington, D.C., campus to its new home at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. and will create the strategic vision for SAIS into the next decade.

Calder previously served as vice dean for faculty affairs and international research cooperation from 2018 to 2020 and director of Asia programs from 2016 to 2018. Prior to his arrival at SAIS in 2003, he served as special advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Japan chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, professor at Princeton University, and the first executive director of Harvard University's Program on U.S.-Japan Relations.

"I'm absolutely delighted to serve at this key point of transition for SAIS to the post-COVID world," Calder said. "The intellectual authority that Johns Hopkins has demonstrated amidst the pandemic, plus the prospect of a beautiful new home on Pennsylvania Avenue, give SAIS a great place to start. I look forward to supporting the school's exciting transition, drawing heavily on what Dean Eliot Cohen has done, and our future leaders will undoubtedly do. "

Additionally, Jessica Fanzo, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Global Food Policy and Ethics, and Peter Lewis, chair of African Studies at SAIS, will assume interim leadership roles at the school beginning July 1.

Fanzo will serve as interim vice dean for faculty affairs at the conclusion of Vice Dean Andrew Mertha's term. Fanzo, who joined SAIS in 2015, holds appointments at the University's Berman Institute of Bioethics and Bloomberg School of Public Health. She currently leads the Johns Hopkins Global Food Policy and Ethics program and serves as director of food and nutrition security within the university's Alliance for a Healthier World initiative.

Lewis will serve as interim vice dean for education and academic affairs at the conclusion of Vice Dean Filipe Campante's term. Lewis, who previously served as associate dean for academic and faculty affairs from 2015 to 2018, has directed the school's Africa program since joining SAIS in 2006 and currently oversees its Middle East program. His research and teaching focus on economic reform and political transition is in developing countries, with particular emphasis on governance and development in Sub-Saharan Africa.