Jackson School for Global Affairs

The Jackson School of Global Affairs offers interdisciplinary academic programs that inspire and prepare Yale students for global leadership and service.

By the standards of a 320 year-old university, we’re pretty new.

Prior to becoming a stand-alone professional school in 2022, the Jackson School was known as the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. The institute was built on what was the International Affairs Council at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies after a transformative gift from John W. ’67 and Susan G. Jackson in 2009. 

In 2015, the Jackson Institute separated from the MacMillan Center into an independent organization. In 2019, the Yale Board of Trustees approved the transformation of the Jackson Institute into a school, and in January 2022, President Salovey announced that the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs would open in July 2022. James A. Levinsohn, distinguished economist and educator, was named the inaugural dean. 

The Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs—the first professional school created at Yale since 1976—builds on Yale’s centuries long tradition of educating leaders. Yale’s graduates include five U.S. presidents; seven U.S. Secretaries of State; the presidents or prime ministers of Mexico, South Korea, and Germany; numerous ambassadors; and many heads of private and non-profit enterprises that contribute to the public good such as Human Rights Watch, Mercy Corps, Ashoka, Unite for Sight, and the Peace Corps.

The Jackson School is a community of scholars, students, practitioners, alumni, and staff dedicated to making a difference in all fields of global affairs. We bring to Yale the most talented, passionate students from all the world dedicated to making the world a better place. We prepare students to understand the world through academically rigorous programs taught by outstanding faculty who are leaders in their fields, and prominent practitioners of global affairs.

In addition to our degree programs in Global Affairs, Jackson is home to the Global Health Studies Multidisciplinary Academic Program (MAP), which provides Yale College students with rigorous training in and engagement with skills and knowledge relevant to global health research and practice.

Our students learn from interdisciplinary faculty members from across campus as well as Jackson Senior Fellows—leading practitioners in government, business, international organizations, the NGO community, and other global affairs fields. Senior Fellows spend a semester, or the full academic year, at Yale teaching classes and mentoring students.

The Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program is also part of the Jackson community. Each fall, we welcome 16 accomplished, mid-career global leaders to Yale for a four-month immersive transformational journey. World Fellows contribute to Yale’s intellectual life, participate in events, collaborate with peers, audit classes, mentor students and lead round-table discussions. The program, established in 2002, has a network of more than 400 Fellows from 91 countries.

In 2017, the Kerry Initiative joined Jackson. The initiative, founded by former Secretary of State John Kerry YC ’66, is an interdisciplinary program that tackles pressing global challenges through teaching, research, and international dialogue.

International Security Studies, a research hub dedicated to the study of international history, grand strategy, and global security founded at Yale in 1988, became part of Jackson in 2021 under the leadership of Professor Arne Westad.