Christopher Sands

Christopher Sands is Director of the Center for Canadian Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC. He also co-chairs the SAIS Academy for North America, an executive education initiative with Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan. His current research focuses on the Second Century of U.S.–Canadian Relations, an initiative examining the evolution of the bilateral relationship since 1927 and looking ahead to the challenges and opportunities for 2027 and beyond.

At SAIS, Dr. Sands has served as Interim Director of the Latin American Studies Program, Faculty Lead for Technology and Innovation, and as the school’s representative to the Johns Hopkins University Research Administration Faculty Advisory Committee. He is Lead Editor of a new Encyclopedia of U.S.–Canadian Relations (Sage CQ Press, forthcoming 2027) and co-editor of Canada and the United States: Differences That Count (5th ed., University of Toronto Press, 2023) and Canada and the United States: Sovereignty or Shared Institutions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021).

Beyond SAIS, Dr. Sands leads the Canada Seminar at the U.S. Department of State’s National Foreign Affairs Training Center and the “How Washington Works” seminar for the Canada School of Public Service. He serves on the boards of the Institute for Research on Public Policy, the Canada–United States Law Institute, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, the New North America Initiative at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy, and the Canadian Studies Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Sands received the Order of Merit of the International Council for Canadian Studies (2025), the Alan Bluechel Leadership Award from the Pacific North West Economic Region (2025), and the Sidney Picker Award of the Canada–United States Law Institute (2018). He holds a BA from Macalester College and an MA and PhD from Johns Hopkins University. Although frequently mistaken for a Canadian, he is a native of Detroit, Michigan.