New visiting professorship honors former U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter by bringing accomplished public servants and practitioners to Harvard Kennedy School to teach, mentor students, and prepare the next generation of national security leaders.
Thursday, July 9, 2026—Cambridge, MA— The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School today announced that Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall has been named the inaugural Ashton B. Carter Visiting Professor.
Established through the generosity of the Belfer family, Delta Air Lines, GE Aerospace, and nearly 90 former students, colleagues, friends, and admirers who contributed in Ash Carter's honor, the visiting professorship reflects Carter's enduring belief that the world's most consequential challenges demand leaders who combine rigorous scholarship with practical experience, technical expertise with strategic judgment, and intellectual curiosity with a deep commitment to public service.
The Ashton B. Carter Visiting Professorship has been created to carry forward his commitment to preparing future public leaders by bringing practitioners to Harvard Kennedy School to teach, mentor students, and engage with the Belfer Center and broader Harvard community on the defining national and international security challenges of our time.
"Ash believed the Belfer Center's mission was not only to generate ideas, but to prepare leaders to tackle the world's most difficult challenges," said Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Director of the Belfer Center. "The Ashton B. Carter Visiting Professorship carries that mission forward, and we are delighted that Liz Sherwood-Randall will hold this inaugural appointment. Her commitment to public service, her record of achievement, and her determination to work on the toughest problems make her exceptionally well-suited to carry on Ash's legacy."
"Harvard Kennedy School's strength lies in bringing together leading scholars and experienced practitioners to impact policy and prepare the next generation of public leaders," said Jeremy M. Weinstein, Dean of Harvard Kennedy School. "The Ashton B. Carter Visiting Professorship will ensure that each year our students have the opportunity to learn from exceptional leaders whose experience has shaped public policy at the highest levels. Liz Sherwood-Randall's distinguished career in public service, strategic leadership, and national security makes her an outstanding inaugural appointment."
Sherwood-Randall brings more than three decades of leadership at the highest levels of the U.S. government. Most recently, she served as Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Deputy National Security Advisor. She served in previous U.S. Administrations as Deputy Secretary of Energy, White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control, National Security Council Senior Director for Europe, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia.
Throughout her career, Sherwood-Randall has sought to strengthen U.S. alliances, reduce nuclear risks, reinforce deterrence, and develop strategies to prevent and prepare for the most consequential and potentially existential security challenges. Her ability to bridge scholarship and policymaking, strategic vision and effective implementation, technical expertise and human judgment make her an exemplary inaugural holder of a professorship inspired by Carter's own approach to public service.
“Throughout her own remarkable path, Liz Sherwood-Randall has carried forward the values that mattered most to Ash: rigorous analysis, pragmatic leadership, and a deep dedication to serving the public,” said Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard University. “I can think of no one better to inaugurate this professorship and help inspire the next generation of leaders.”
“Ash grounded his own teaching in preparing students not just with knowledge, but with the capacity to get things done,” stated Stephanie Carter. “That’s why this professorship matters so much: it brings both scholars and practitioners into the classroom. That it will be held by Liz — one of Ash’s closest colleagues and dearest friends — makes it all the more meaningful. She is a person of action, and students will benefit greatly from her experience executing on real policy decisions.”
Reflecting on the appointment, Sherwood-Randall said it is both a professional honor and a deeply personal one.
"Ash Carter was a close colleague and friend for more than three decades," Sherwood-Randall said. “This appointment sets a very high bar for me because I saw him in action in multiple contexts, including in the most demanding defense leadership roles and as an innovative professor at Harvard. His strategic vision, intellectual rigor, profound sense of duty, and devotion to public purpose are a continuing inspiration. I am honored to serve as the inaugural Ashton B. Carter Visiting Professor, and I look forward to joining the vibrant Kennedy School community and contributing everything I can to training the next generation of leaders for the challenges they will face and need to meet."
As the inaugural Ashton B. Carter Visiting Professor, Sherwood-Randall will teach and mentor students while engaging with Belfer Center faculty, fellows, and researchers on the national and international security challenges reshaping the global landscape and affecting the safety and security of the homeland. Her appointment launches a visiting professorship designed to bring highly accomplished practitioners into the classroom and to carry forward Carter’s conviction that effective public leadership requires analytical excellence, practical experience, and a determined commitment to public purpose.
