Brian Hanson, New Vice President for Studies, Joins Chicago Council on Global Affairs

MAY 24, 2016

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is pleased to announce that Brian Hanson is joining the Council as its new Vice President for Studies. He will lead the Council’s expanding team of experts who provide insight on critical global issues.
 
Hanson comes to the Council from the Buffett Institute for Global Studies at Northwestern University where he has served most recently as its Director of Programs, Research and Strategic Planning. The Buffett Institute focuses on critical global issues through collaborative research, public dialogue and engaged scholarship.
 
“With his global outlook and deep expertise in setting ambitious research agendas, Brian is exactly the right person to guide the Council’s scholarship as we head toward our 100th anniversary in 2022,” said Ambassador Ivo H. Daalder, president of the Council. “Brian already has been closely connected to the Council on Global Affairs as a member of our studies and programs committees, and I’m delighted he will lead our growing studies portfolio.”
 
In recent years the Council has added resident and nonresident fellows in the areas of public opinion, global cities, global water, global immigration, global security, global food and agriculture, global energy, and the global economy.
 
“I am thrilled to be joining the Council and look forward to working closely with my studies colleagues to develop research that brings new insights into the kinds of global issues that are increasingly important to our future,” said Hanson.

Hanson also has served as a lecturer in Northwestern’s Department of Political Science, International Studies Program. Before coming to Northwestern, he worked in Washington, D.C. at the government affairs office of Deere & Company and as a foreign policy advisor to Senator Alan Dixon (IL). He serves on the board and in leadership roles for a number of organizations addressing global politics and development – including the Stanley Foundation, the Holthues Trust, The Foundation for Sustainable Development, and GlobeMed, an independent national organization founded at the Buffett Institute dedicated to global health equity.
 
Hanson received his B.A. in political science from Grinnell College and conducted doctoral studies in political science at MIT.
 
His first official day with the Council will be July 18.