Announcing SAIS Interim Leadership Team

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

The search for the next dean of SAIS is proceeding on schedule with the search committee currently interviewing a strong slate of candidates. It is expected that the new dean will be in place prior to the fall semester.

As the search moves forward, we wanted to provide you with an update on the leadership transition plan for this summer. Provost Kumar has appointed Kent Calder, Director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies, as interim Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS beginning July 1, following the conclusion of Dean Eliot Cohen’s term. 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 (CSIS), professor at Princeton University, and the first Executive Director of Harvard University’s Program on U.S.-Japan Relations.

In addition, 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 the school 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.

We look forward to a successful conclusion of the SAIS dean search and will provide you with an update as soon as it is available.

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