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Kenneth H. Keller Professorship

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Political Science and History

Established in 2014 by SAIS Europe Advisory Council members, alumni and friends spearheaded by current JHU trustee and SAIS Europe Advisory Council chairman James Anderson (B’81)

KellerKenKEN KELLER, Ph.D., was director and resident professor of SAIS Europe from 2006 to 2014 and then Senior Adjunct Professor of Science and Technology Policy from 2015 to 2020.

During his tenure as director of SAIS Europe, he placed a strong emphasis on strengthening the curriculum, encouraging and supporting faculty scholarly activities that cross disciplinary boundaries, and increasing opportunities for public policy dialogue.

Keller’s vision led to the establishment of the Bologna Institute for Policy Research (BIPR) and the transfer of the European and Eurasian Studies program’s core operation to Bologna. Moreover, he broadened the course offerings to include newly emerging issues in order to ensure the best possible education in international affairs.  His own course, “Science, Technology and International Affairs”, brought together the worlds of science and policy.

Ken Keller realized that the quality of education and the atmosphere on campus depend on the faculty and their gift to challenge and inspire students. Throughout his directorship, he energetically pushed for SAIS to be able to recognize the academic achievements of SAIS professors resident in Bologna by providing the possibility of formal tenure appointments for them. Not surprisingly, therefore, the person holding the Kenneth H. Keller Professorship, which is designed for a faculty member whose area of scholarship blends history and international politics, requires that the person be a full-time faculty member at SAIS Europe with a tenured or tenure track appointment.

Held by Eugene (Evgeny) Finkel

EUGENE (EVGENY) FINKEL works at the intersection of political science and history. He was born in Ukraine and grew up in Israel. Finkel received a BA in Political Science and International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a PhD in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on how institutions and individuals respond to extreme situations: mass violence, state collapse, and rapid change.

Finkel is the author of Ordinary Jews: Choice and Survival during the Holocaust (Princeton University Press, 2017) and, together with Scott Gehlbach, of Reform and Rebellion in Weak States (Cambridge University Press, 2020). His next book, Bread and Autocracy: Food, Politics and Security in Putin’s Russia is forthcoming with Oxford University Press. His articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, East European Politics and Societies, Slavic Review, and several other journals and edited volumes. Finkel also published articles and op-eds in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs and other outlets.

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