Press Release

Harvard Kennedy School Welcomes Djavad Salehi-Isfahani as the Fall 2013 Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar

Sep. 03, 2013

CAMBRIDGE, MA—The Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs today announced the selection of the fall 2013 Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar, Professor Djavad Salehi-Isfahani. Salehi-Isfahani will be in residence at Harvard for the fall 2013 semester, where he will participate in MEI events, lead an 8-week seminar series titled, “The Politics and Economics of Transitions in the Middle East,” and work closely with Harvard students and faculty.

Salehi-Isfahani, whose home institution is Virginia Tech, received his BsC in Economics from the University of London in 1971 and his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 1977. His research focuses on energy economics, demographic economics and the economics of the Middle East. Professor Salehi-Isfahani is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Research Fellow at the Economic Research Forum in Cairo, and Associate Editor of the Middle East Development Journal, which publishes rigorous policy research on the Middle East and North Africa. He has also served on the Board of the Middle East Economic Association. 

“We are pleased to welcome Professor Salehi-Isfahani as our Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar for fall 2013” said Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, and Faculty Chair of the Middle East Initiative. “Professor Salehi-Isfahani is a renowned scholar of economics in the Arab world and Iran. His expertise and research on a range of issues, including the future of youth in the Middle East, make him a valuable addition to intellectual life at the School.”

The Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar Program is one of the five components of the Kuwait Program at Harvard Kennedy School and is supported by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. The Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar program attracts regional experts who may teach, conduct research projects, lead workshops and interact with other research fellows at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). Their presence helps enrich program offerings on the Middle East on campus and support the broader mission of the Middle East Initiative. 

TheMiddle East Initiative is dedicated to deepening and strengthening Harvard Kennedy School's relationship with the governments, universities and peoples of the Middle East.  MEI has launched a series of programs designed for political, civil service and business leaders from the region with the aim of strengthening good governance and seeking solutions to public policy problems in the Middle East. MEI also actively engages in community outreach to create a space for dynamic interaction around issues relating to the Middle East.

Contact: Sharon Wilke
Email:sharon_wilke@harvard.edu
Phone: (617) 495-9858

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: “Harvard Kennedy School Welcomes Djavad Salehi-Isfahani as the Fall 2013 Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar.” Press Release, September 3, 2013.
Recommended
In the Spotlight
RSS
A detailed look at China’s development of a hydrogen bomb in fewer than three years, quicker than all other initial nuclear weapons states.
'New Cold Wars' are “more complex, more dangerous than the old one, because China and Russia are teaming up together.”
While U.S. media reports blame Iran and its drone attacks for “pouring gasoline on a region that is already in flames,” there's a lot more to the story, and “most of it reflects poorly on the United States.”
Most Viewed

Tags