Funded Chairs

Thanks to generous support from patrons who wish to strengthen its capacity to address major contemporary global challenges, the Graduate Institute has been able to create Chairs which have allowed it to attract eminent experts.

Curt Gasteyger Chair in International Security and Conflict Studies

The Association for the Promotion and Study of International Security (APESI) has decided to fund a Chair for four years to encourage teaching and research activities in the area of international security. The incumbent is Professor Thomas Biersteker, who is also director of the programme on global governance.

André Hoffmann Chair in Environmental Economics

This Chair, funded by the Hoffmann Foundation, is intended to make an important scientific contribution to the analysis of the impact on societies and the international system of environmental changes within the confines of finite natural resources. It also seeks to contribute to the search for collective responses to the problems generated by this challenge, including through close interaction with international actors (governments, international and non-governmental organisations, private sector) working in this area. The holder of the Chair is Professor Timothy Swanson, who is also director of the Centre for International Environmental Studies.

Pictet Chairs in Finance and Development

The Pictet Foundation for Development was created by Mr Ivan Pictet with a capital of CHF 25 million intended to support the establishment of a Centre for Finance and Development and the construction of the “Portail des nations”. The Centre brings to the Graduate Institute an important wealth of new competencies and enables the consolidation of existing resources at the crossroads between international finance, development economics and financial history, thereby bestowing international visibility upon a field with a promising future.

The Centre includes three Pictet Chair holders: Ugo Panizza, also Director of the Centre, Yi Huang and Lore Vandewalle.

Pictet Chair in International Environmental Law

This Chair funded by Mr Nicolas Pictet for a period of three years has allowed the Graduate Institute to strengthen its expertise in the environmental field. The Chair holder was Jorge Viñuales, who is adjunct professor at the Institute and professor at the University of Cambridge.

Yves Oltramare Chair Religion and Politics in the Contemporary World

The mission of this Chair funded by Mr Yves Oltramare for a 10-year period is to make an important scientific contribution to the analysis of the relationship between religion and politics in the contemporary world and its impact on the evolution of societies and the international system. It is also intended to contribute to the search for dialogue and responses to challenges arising from this relationship.

Pierre du Bois Visiting Professor

Every year the Pierre du Bois Foundation funds a visiting professor from a Latin American university to teach a course in the department of international history. Since 2012, the Graduate Institute had the pleasure of welcoming:

  • 2012: Mr Ricardo Salvatore, Professor of Contemporary Latin American History, Torcuato Di Tella University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 2013: Mr Julio Pinto Vallejos, Professor of Contemporary Latin American History, University of Santiago, Chile
  • 2014: Mr Marcos Cueto, Professor of History of International Health, Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • 2015: Mr Raúl García-Heras, Assistant Professor of Economic History, School of Economics, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 2016 (last year): Mrs Valeria Manzano, Associate Professor of History, Instituto de Altos Estudios Sociales/University of San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina