Weatherhead Center Appoints Gilman New Executive Director

Theodore “Ted” J. Gilman, who served for 10 years as the executive director of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, will lead the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs as its next executive director.

Gilman was selected from a group of 52 applicants—“a very deep pool,” according to the center’s incoming faculty director, Michèle Lamont. Gilman and Lamont will step into their roles on July 1, just two years after Beth A. Simmons, a professor in the Government Department and then the head of the center, resigned in protest in 2013.

“I’m excited because my background is in comparative politics and international relations, and this is an institution, this is a unit of the University that is all about those topics,” Gilman said. “And so to some extent, for me personally it’s a return to that broader field that I enjoy so much.”

Lamont, who led the search committee to replace current Weatherhead Center Executive Director Steven B. Bloomfield, said the team was looking for someone with a strong research background, good judgment, and a close relationship with faculty.

“We had a really strong pool, but Ted really stood out in part because of his experience at the Reischauer Institute,” Lamont said. “I was particularly eager to have someone who had good knowledge of the internal dynamics of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and who had a lot of experience managing staff.”

As the Weatherhead Center’s executive director, Gilman will play a crucial role in the administrative management and faculty communication within the center, which is the largest international research center within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In an interview on Friday, Gilman said that through his position, he aims to find and create new leadership opportunities for faculty, continue close engagement with the research and teaching mission of the University, and expand the center’s focus on transnational and international themes.

“The Weatherhead Center already does a lot of things very well, but we also think that there are some new directions that could be explored, and we look forward to finding partners and creating new relationships to do that,” Gilman said.

For her part, Lamont said she looks forward to working with Gilman to lead the Weatherhead Center.

“It’s a really exciting moment now at the Weatherhead Center because it’s a bit of a new beginning after a couple of years of hiatus,” Lamont said.

—Staff writer Melanie Y. Fu can be reached at melanie.fu@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @MelanieYFu.