Press Release
The Middle East Initiative is pleased to announce that Dr. Omar Razzaz, former Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, will serve as a non-resident Emirates Leadership Initiative Senior Fellow during the Spring and Fall 2022 semesters at Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative (MEI).
During his fellowship, Dr. Razzaz will lead a study group on “Policy vs. Politics: Insights from the field on reforming social protection, education, taxation, and public sector accountability.” During the study group sessions, he will reflect on personal experiences in Jordan and the Middle East, share important lessons that he learned during his career working in government and international organizations, and lead students in an investigation of public good production on a national and global scale. He will also deliver a public seminar and meet with Harvard students, faculty, and fellows.
“Dr. Razzaz exemplifies the Belfer Center’s dual commitment to leadership and scholarship,” said Belfer Center Director Ash Carter. “Our community will learn a great deal from his experience.”
“We are fortunate to have Dr. Razzaz join the MEI community as a senior fellow during the 2022 calendar year,” said Tarek Masoud, Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman professor of international relations and MEI faculty director. “Our students and fellows will benefit immensely from his extensive practical experience and his deep knowledge of the region’s politics and societies.”
“I spent some of my formative years in Cambridge, first as a student at MIT and then at Harvard. It is where I learned to pose tough questions about the status quo,” Dr. Razzaz said. “I am thrilled to return to this community of creative thinkers and problem-solvers. Over the course of my study group, I hope to encourage students to think critically about the national and international governance structures that incentivize states to invest in public goods that make our societies safer and more sustainable. I am eager to share what I have learned with the brilliant and diverse minds at the Kennedy School and to gain their insight into how we can alter the frightening trajectory of our planet.”
Dr. Razzaz comes to MEI with a formidable career that spans the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, international organizations, and academia. Most notably, he served as the 42nd Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 2018-2020. He also served as Jordan’s minister of education (2017-2018), director of Jordan’s Social Security Corporation (2006-2010), executive chairman of Jordan Ahli Bank (2014-2017), chair of the King Abdullah Fund for Development (2012-2014), founder and chair of the Jordan Strategy Forum (2012-2017), sector leader and country manager at the World Bank (1997-2006), and Ford Chair and assistant professor at MIT’s International Development and Regional Planning Program. He completed a post-doctorate at Harvard Law School (1992) and earned a Ph.D. in urban planning with a minor in economics from Harvard University (1991), a master’s from MIT (1987), and a bachelor's in engineering from Louisiana Tech University (1985). Throughout his years in academia, he received several awards for research, writing, and teaching.
Contact: Mary Fulham, Program and Communications Administrator, Middle East Initiative (maryfulham@hks.harvard.edu)