Message from the Director

Stephen J. Stedman
Program Director

Dear Friends,

All of us affiliated with the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies (IPS) at Stanford University share a deep concern about the major issues troubling the world today. Stanford’s renowned faculty continue to equip our students with the skills and background needed to manage these increasingly complex global problems: poverty, deadly infectious disease, environmental degradation, resource depletion, food insecurity, interstate conflict, civil war, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and more.

In a world where problems cross borders and disciplines and threats that were previously thought to be independent are found to be interconnected, students need the training and perspective to break down disciplinary silos. They need the tools and dexterity to work across issue areas and in diverse policy arenas. They need to see connections that others miss, and be able to describe and explain those connections so that others will then see them too. The rigorous IPS curriculum weaves together these connections to form a solid understanding of global issues.

Students from diverse countries and backgrounds, each with varying experiences and interests, are drawn to the IPS program to broaden their perspective and share different points of view. IPS graduates go on to work in various fields and sectors throughout the world. We are extremely proud of our alumni, many of whom hold leadership positions in organizations such as the World Bank and United Nations, in U.S. and foreign government, at law and tech firms, in private corporations and in academia.

IPS faculty, students, and alumni, indeed all of Stanford University, share a common interest in effecting positive change in our world. I invite you to explore our website and the possibilities that the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies has to offer.

Stephen J. Stedman
Program Director,
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and
Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science