I am an Assistant Professor of International Development at American University’s School of International Service (SIS), the largest and most applied-to school of international relations in the United States, enrolling 2,500 students from over 150 countries every year. Foreign Policy magazine recently rated its Master’s programs 8th in the country.
Since January 2010, I am also a Research Affiliate with MIT’s Center for International Studies (CIS) where I contribute to an inter-university research group on Urban Resilience in Situations of Chronic Violence.
I graduated from the LSE’s Development Studies Institute with an MSc (Distinction, Best Performance Prize) in Development Management in 2003 and a PhD in Development Studies in 2008. My doctoral supervisor was Jo Beall.
Prior to graduate school I read Business Administration, Economics and International Affairs at the Richard Ivey School of Business (University of Western Ontario, London, Canada), the Universidad de San Andres in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in Germany. I also obtained a certificate in Conflict Mediation from Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation.
During my studies I received very generous support by the German National Academic Foundation (grant for top 1% of German doctoral students), the German Academic Exchange Service (doctoral stipend and one-year grant for graduate school fees in the United Kingdom), the British Economic and Social Research Council (+3 Award for doctoral studies), the Mellon-MIT Program on NGOs and Forced Migration (field research grant), and the LSE Graduate School (Graduate Merit Award).
Born in Cologne, Germany, I grew up in the quaint northern German town of Lueneburg, also known as the “city of salt”. I enjoy reading, weekend trips, mountain biking, skiing, and sailing.
My curriculum vitae can be downloaded here:
