The appointment of former Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke '62 to a post at the Watson Institute for International Studies last week formalized a powerful connection that has benefited the University in the past and will be especially important as Brown's internationalization initiative progresses, President Ruth Simmons told The Herald Monday.
The details of Holbrooke's responsibilities as a professor-at-large in the Watson Institute are still being worked out, said Geoffrey Kirkman, associate director of the Watson Institute, late last week, adding that it was still unclear when Holbrooke would arrive at Brown or how often he will be on campus.
Holbrooke "just got back from Iraq" and would be in Europe until this week, said Media Relations Specialist Deborah Baum last Thursday. In an e-mail to The Herald, Holbrooke wrote that he would prefer not to discuss the appointment until the details had been worked out.
Holbrooke, who was editor in chief of The Herald while an undergraduate at Brown, is a former ambassador to Germany as well as to the United Nations. His extensive foreign policy resume includes playing a pivotal role in brokering the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia.
"Because we are starting the international initiative, it's much more important now than ever that we have the counsel of our alums who have been the most important and the most visible on the international stage," Simmons told The Herald. "He is clearly one of those people who enjoys an international reputation and someone who knows a good deal about different parts of the world."
Former U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee '75, who accepted a position as a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute this semester, said though he does not know Holbrooke personally, his reputation is formidable.
"He's had a long and distinguished career that spanned all the important areas on the globe," Chafee said, adding that Holbrooke's "experience brokering the cessation of wars" and knowledge of "the inner workings of how you bring disparate groups together" would be especially valuable to students "in these perilous times we live in."
Simmons said Holbrooke is one of a number of prominent alums she has spoken with regularly and sought advice from since she came to Brown in 2001, and that she first broached the possibility of his taking on a faculty position at the University during one such conversation last fall.
When it became clear that Holbrooke was already involved in some academically oriented work, she said, "it seemed natural for him to extend those relationships to Brown and to have a relationship of a more formal nature with the University."
Holbrooke is the chairman of the executive committee of the Asia Society, an international organization that promotes ties between Asian nations and the United States. He is also the chairman of the American Academy in Berlin, an institute he was involved in founding that is dedicated to fostering scholarly and cultural exchange between the United States and Germany.
A University press release last Wednesday said one of Holbrooke's duties would be to serve as an "informal adviser" to Simmons.
"I would hope that what he would do is to look over our shoulders as we begin to take these steps to formalize our structure for greater international reach, that he would advise about areas of the world that are important to look at, he would advise about opportunities that he is aware of in different parts of the world, and just generally feel welcome to intervene, to make those kinds of comments and to make suggestions," Simmons said. "This is an invitation to him that we want his advice."
Holbrooke, she said, has told her he is excited about the appointment because "like any alumnus who has deep affection for the University, he would like to be helpful in whatever way the University requires."
The University's ongoing initiative to raise its international profile was announced last fall and has since resulted in the formation of an internationalization committee chaired by Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98. In addition, a search committee charged with filling the newly created position of vice president for international affairs hopes to announce a selection later this spring.
"We intend that he will be meeting with some of the international committees that are getting started," Simmons said. "He has a very particular interest in certain parts of the world."
Deepening the University's involvement in Africa is one area that Simmons said Holbrooke has a particular interest in, noting that doing more in that region was among his suggestions in their first conversation after she became president.
"It will be up to him to chose other areas of interest that he wants to support, and I suspect that as he gets into the University and learns more about what's going on, he'll find lots of areas where he can add his own particular perspective and commentary," Simmons said. "He is likely to get a lot of very stimulating discussions going."
Simmons said she believes students on campus will benefit directly from Holbrooke's presence as well.
"Of all the things you remember as a student ... you remember less the particular days on the syllabus where you studied - you read, for example - about it, but you're always going to remember that you interacted with this figure who was actually on the ground being responsible for the policies and practices you're studying," Simmons said. "Bringing in people who are primary actors in world politics - in the making of history - is a very potent learning experience."
Kirkman said he was also excited at the opportunity Holbrooke would have to "bring real policy-making experience to complement the more academic view" that students get in the classroom.
Holbrooke likely will not teach any courses, at least initially, Kirkman said, in keeping with the Watson Institute's standard practice of not rushing "practitioners" who do not have significant teaching experience into the classroom.
"We want to make sure he's comfortable," Kirkman said. "It's a question of making sure that we find the balance that makes this a great experience for him and a great experience for us."
