Francis J Gavin
Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor
Director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs
About
Francis J. Gavin is the Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and the inaugural director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS. In 2013, Gavin was appointed the first Frank Stanton Chair in Nuclear Security Policy Studies and Professor of Political Science at MIT. Before joining MIT, he was the Tom Slick Professor of International Affairs and the Director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas. From 2005 until 2010, he directed The American Assembly’s multiyear, national initiative, The Next Generation Project: U.S. Global Policy and the Future of International Institutions. Gavin’s writings include Gold, Dollars, and Power: The Politics of International Monetary Relations, 1958-1971 (University of North Carolina Press, 2004) and Nuclear Statecraft: History and Strategy in America’s Atomic Age (Cornell University Press, 2012).
He received a PhD and MA in History from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Studies in Modern European History from Oxford University, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Gavin is an Associate of the Managing the Atom Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, Senior Fellow of the Clements Program in History, Strategy, and Statecraft, a Distinguished Scholar at the Robert S. Strauss Center, a Senior Advisor to the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and a life-member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
He received a PhD and MA in History from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Studies in Modern European History from Oxford University, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Gavin is an Associate of the Managing the Atom Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, Senior Fellow of the Clements Program in History, Strategy, and Statecraft, a Distinguished Scholar at the Robert S. Strauss Center, a Senior Advisor to the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and a life-member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Gavin, F., J. (2012). Nuclear statecraft: History and strategy in America's Atomic Age. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Gavin, F., J. (2007). Gold, dollars, and power: The politics of international monetary relations, 1958-1971. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
In the News
Three books on the history of nuclear weapons.
Francis J. Gavin’s book cited in Foreign Affairs, 9/22
America’s place in the world: How lessons from the past can guide the future of foreign policy.
Francis J. Gavin and Hal Brands participated in American Enterprise Institute webinar, 9/3
Blame it on the blob? How to evaluate American grand strategy.
Francis J. Gavin wrote in War on the Rocks, 8/21
The best of the brightest? Ideas and their consequences.
Francis J. Gavin wrote in Texas National Security Review, 7/23
Forever altered: Two-day forum explores shifting geopolitical order.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen and Francis J. Gavin quoted in Johns Hopkins Hub, 6/29
The best of the brightest? Ideas and their consequences.
Francis J. Gavin wrote in Texas National Security Review, 5/21
Nuclear weapons and the future of American grand strategy
Francis J. Gavin wrote for SAIS Review of International Affairs, 4/17
Does might make right? Individuals, ethics, and exceptionalism.
Francis J. Gavin wrote in War on the Rocks, 2/11
How is Hopkins involved in nuclear arms research?
Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs Director Francis J. Gavin quoted in Johns Hopkins News-Letter, 11/21
Thinking historically: A guide for strategy and statecraft.
Francis J. Gavin wrote and Dean Eliot A. Cohen cited in War on the Rocks, 11/19
LaFeber-Silbey Lecture to look back on 1970s U.S. power.
Francis J. Gavin quoted in Cornell Chronicle, 9/30
International affairs professor known for ‘irreverent’ humor dies at 67.
Francis J. Gavin cited in the GW Hatchet, 7/5