Dr. Jill E. McGovern

SAIS Board of Advisors, Member

Dr. Jill E. McGovern is a member of the Board of Trustees and Senior Consultant at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, a research organization in Washington affiliated with Johns Hopkins University and focused on U.S.-German relations. Between 1993 and 2007, she served as CEO of The Marrow Foundation, the partner of the National Marrow Donor Program, which maintains the national registry of unrelated blood stem cell donors.  Previously, she was Executive Director of the Baltimore International Festival and senior assistant to the President of Johns Hopkins University.  Between 1975 and 1981, she was associated with the Department of Education at the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. and chaired the Department from 1978 to 1981.  In addition, McGovern taught at the Citadel in Charleston and Tulane University in New Orleans.  She also taught in the Orleans Parish Schools for seven years, after she had spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer on Mogmog, Ulithi, Federated States of Micronesia.

McGovern has served on the Board of Trustees of Legg Mason Funds since 1989.  Between 1994 and 1999, she chaired the Board of the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore, and she continues to serve as a member of the Museum's Advisory Council.  She also served on the Boards of the Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust and the International Biomedical Research Alliance.  From 2012 to 2014, she chaired the Board of the Lois Roth Endowment, a non-profit organization devoted to fostering international cultural dialogue.  In addition, she is an Army Arlington Lady.

McGovern is involved with Johns Hopkins University in a variety roles:  as a member of the Rising to the Challenge Campaign Cabinet, the Evergreen Campaign Committee, the Peabody National Advisory Council, the SAIS Europe Advisory Council, and the Hopkins-Nanjing Council; and as co-chair of the SAIS Legacy Circle.

McGovern received her BA from Northwestern University, her Master of Arts from Xavier University, and her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New Orleans.

Since my first association with Johns Hopkins University in 1981, I regarded SAIS as the preeminent institution committed to preparing the next generation of leaders to address the challenges of our world. Twenty-five years later, when my late husband, Steven Muller, President of Johns Hopkins between 1972 and 1990, and I decided to create McGovern-Muller Fellowships at SAIS, we were confident that we were investing in the most exceptional international students who would in fact help solve the global challenges of the 21st century.

Dr. Jill E. McGovern