John Thomas

John W. Thomas is Lecturer in Public Policy, Faculty Chair of the Singapore Program, and co-chair of the Leaders in Development Program. His research and teaching, in degree and executive programs, focuses on how political processes shape policy change and organizational performance in a global environment. At the National University of Singapore he helped establish the Public Policy Program, now the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and leads the Kennedy School team supporting it. He is a member of the Harvard Medical School Working Group on the Reform of Medical Education. He has counseled Asian, African, and Latin American universities on the development of public policy programs. As advisor to the governments of Kenya, the Philippines, and Bangladesh, he worked on land reform and poverty alleviation, organizational capacity, and policy change strategies. He was a founding member of Oxfam America Board of Directors. With Merilee Grindle he co-authored the award-winning book Public Choices and Policy Change. He received his MPA and PhD from Harvard University.