The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located within the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, publi ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, in the United States. From 2017 until his death in October, 2022, the center was led by Director

Ash Carter Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the B ...

, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Co-Director Eric Rosenbach, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense. Belfer was founded in 1973 by biochemist

Paul M. Doty Paul Mead Doty (June 1, 1920 – December 5, 2011) was Mallinckrodt Professor of Biochemistry at Harvard University, specializing in the physical properties of macromolecules and strongly involved in peace and security policy issues. Biograph ...

as the Program for Science and International Affairs within Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences to provide analysis on

arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the u ...

and nuclear threat reduction. Following a grant from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, the program was re-established as the Center for Science and International Affairs, becoming the first permanent research center at the newly formed School of Government. In 1997, following further endowment, the center was renamed as the Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in honor of Robert A. Belfer, founder of Belco Oil & Gas Corporation. In 2012, the

Stanton Foundation The Stanton Foundation is a private foundation established by Frank Stanton, a long-time president of Columbia Broadcasting System ("CBS"). The Foundation focuses primarily on three areas in which Stanton was unable to complete his philanthro ...

provided funds for a paid

Wikipedian in residence A Wikipedian in residence or Wikimedian in residence (WiR) is a Wikipedia editor, a Wikipedian (or Wikimedian), who accepts a placement with an institution, typically an art gallery, library, archive, museum, cultural institution, learned so ...

at the Belfer Center. This became controversial due to links between the Belfer Center and the Stanton Foundation (the directors of each are a married couple) and public concerns about

conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia Conflict-of-interest (COI) editing on Wikipedia occurs when editors use Wikipedia to advance the interests of their external roles or relationships. The type of COI editing of most concern on Wikipedia is paid editing for public relations (PR) ...

. The center is organized into subgroups with specific areas of focus; for example, an

energy technology Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...

innovation policy group led by Laura Diaz Anadon. A 2021 investigative report by student group Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard found that many of the center's climate initiatives were funded in part by fossil fuel companies, and that the center had allegedly taken several steps to cover up that fact.

Board members

Center board members include: *

Graham Allison Graham Tillett Allison Jr. (born March 23, 1940) is an American political scientist and the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is renowned for his contribution in the late ...

, former Director, Belfer Center, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government,

* Lewis M. Branscomb, Professor emeritus of Public Policy and Corporate Management * Albert Carnesale, former Harvard University provost *

Ashton B. Carter Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Be ...

, Chair of International Relations, Security & Science faculty, physicist, who served as the 25th

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The se ...

(until his death in October 2022) *

John M. Deutch John Mark Deutch (born July 27, 1938) is an American physical chemist and civil servant. He was the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1995 and Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from May 10, 1995 until December 15, 199 ...

, former

Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency from 1946 to 2005, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Security C ...

* John P. Holdren, John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy *

Joseph Nye Joseph Samuel Nye Jr. (born January 19, 1937) is an American political scientist. He and Robert Keohane co-founded the international relations theory of neoliberalism, which they developed in their 1977 book ''Power and Interdependence''. Togethe ...

, University Distinguished Service Professor

Advisory board

The center has an international advisory board. Members include: *

Michael Chertoff Michael Chertoff (born November 28, 1953) is an American attorney who was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security to serve under President George W. Bush. Chertoff also served for one additional day under President Barack Obama. ...

, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security *

Gregory C. Carr Gregory C. Carr (born 1959) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. His main philanthropic venture is the restoration of Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park, which has been ravaged by civil war and environmental destruction. He has pled ...

, Boston Technology founder * Tim Collins,

Ripplewood Holdings Ripplewood is an American private equity firm based in New York City that focuses on leveraged buyouts, late stage venture, growth capital, management buyouts, leveraged recapitalizations and other illiquid investments. Ripplewood was founded ...

founder *

Chuck Robbins Charles H. Robbins (born 1965/1966) is an American businessman, and the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Cisco Systems. Early life Robbins was born in Grayson, Georgia, and educated at Rocky Mount High School in Rocky Mount, North C ...

, CEO of Cisco Systems * Nathaniel Rothschild, Atticus Capital co-chairman

Past members

Stephen Biddle Stephen D. Biddle (born January 19, 1959) is an American author, historian, policy analyst and columnist whose work concentrates on U.S. foreign policy. Currently, he is the Professor of International and Public Affairs at School of International ...

, theorist setting U.S. counterinsurgency policy *

Pierpaolo Barbieri Pierpaolo Barbieri (born 17 May 1987) is an Argentine economic historian, researcher, Executive Director at Greenmantle and founder of Ualá, an Argentina-based personal financial management mobile app. He is the author of the book ''Hitler’s ...

, author, founder of

Ualá Ualá is a mobile app used for managing a Mastercard prepaid debit card in Argentina. The app was founded by Pierpaolo Barbieri and investors include Point72 Ventures. Competitors include Argentine digital bank Brubank, which provides transa ...

Paul Volcker Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcker was widely credited with having ended th ...

, former United States Chairman of the Federal Reserve

References

External links

Official website
Harvard Kennedy School 1973 establishments in Massachusetts Realist think tanks {{org-stub