Five New Faculty Members Join Pardee School
The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University is pleased to welcome to its faculty five new members — Rachel Brule, Assistant Professor of Global Development Policy; Janine Ferretti, Professor of the Practice of Global Development Policy; Amb. Jorge Heine, Research Professor; Rachel Nolan, Assistant Professor of International Relations; and Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein, Professor of the Practice of International Security.
“I am delighted to welcome our new faculty members to the Pardee School and Boston University community,” said Pardee School Dean Adil Najam. “We have a truly distinguished group of new colleagues joining us, and each of them brings new dimensions to our teaching and research while also adding further depth to the Pardee School’s existing strengths in helping the school meet its strategic goals and mission of advancing human progress.”
Brule’s research interests are broadly in comparative politics, international development, political economy, and gender, with a geographical focus on South Asia. Specifically, she studies the relationship between political representation and inequality in social and economic domains across democratic and hybrid political regimes. Her book, Women’s Representation and Resistance (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming) shows that women’s political representation catalyzes effective claims to fundamental economic rights, in particular land inheritance.
“I am honored and delighted to join BU’s Pardee School. The collective work of the faculty, students, and staff to build a community of scholars committed to advancing cutting-edge, policy-relevant research about the complex global challenges we face today is deeply inspiring,” Brule said. “It is a particular joy to be amongst such engaging, wise colleagues and diverse students, with whom I look forward to engaging in my courses about how we reduce enduring inequality, implement substantively important research using cutting-edge methodology, and tackle the biggest political economy questions of our time, such as when and how to effectively use state power to improve individual welfare and all citizens’ capacity to flourish.”
Nolan is a historian of modern Latin America. Her research focuses on political violence, Central American civil wars, childhood and the family, historical memory, and U.S.-Latin American relations. She is currently completing a book manuscript on the history of international adoption from Guatemala. Her research has been funded by the Social Science Research Council, Fulbright, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the ACLS/Mellon Foundation.
“I am thrilled to join the Pardee School and have the opportunity to work with students and professors with such varied global backgrounds, experiences, and interests. I’m very much looking forward to offering classes on everything from Latin American politics, to the history of the drug war, to the history of deportation,” Nolan said. “I strongly believe that it is impossible to understand the U.S. without studying Latin America in depth. Central American history and politics have never seemed more urgent to understand than now, and I hope students and colleagues who are interested in similar issues will seek me out as I learn to find my way around the university.”
Ferretti’s interests are those issues found in the interface of international development and environment with a particular focus on strategies for advancing solutions to key global and regional challenges. She recently finished serving as Chief of the Environmental and Social Safeguards Unit of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a post she had since 2007, where she led a multidisciplinary team of environmental and social specialists in analyzing and supervising IDB operations to ensure their compliance with IDB environmental and social policies. Prior to this, she was Chief of IDB’s Environment Division where she led the development of the Bank’s environment and disaster risk policies, the IDB’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative, and the development of the Bank’s Sustainability Report.
“The diversity of disciplines and backgrounds, and the commitment of faculty, staff and students to make the world a better place are what attracted me to the Pardee School,” Ferretti said. “I am excited about working with the School’s stellar group of faculty and staff and connecting with its engaged students.”
Weinstein, Lieutenant General, USAF, (Ret), served in the U. S. Air Force from 1982 to 2018. Prior to arriving at the Pardee School of Global Studies, he was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters United States Air Force, at the Pentagon. In this position, he was responsible to the Secretary and Chief of Staff on all aspects of nuclear deterrence operations providing direction, guidance, integration and advocacy regarding the nuclear deterrence mission of the U.S. Air Force and engaged with joint, interagency and NATO for nuclear enterprise solutions. His command assignments include the 2d Space Warning Squadron, Buckley AFB Colorado, the 90th Operations Group, F.E. Warren AFB Wyoming, the 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg AFB California, and 20th Air Force and Task Force 214 U.S. Strategic Command, F.E. Warren AFB Wyoming.
“It is a great honor to be part of the Pardee School. I am fortunate to be surrounded by such a world-class faculty with dedicated and talented students,” Lt. Gen. Weinstein said. “I am looking forward to being in the classroom, spending time with our students, and using my 36-years of military service in key leadership, nuclear, space and cyberspace assignments teaching and mentoring our students. Educating the next generation of leaders is our most important job and I am proud to be part of the team creating a cadre of professionals who can help solve the nation’s and the world’s most pressing problems.”
Amb. Jorge Heine is a lawyer, IR scholar and diplomat with a special interest in fhe international politics of the Global South. He was most recently a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. ( 2018-2019). He has served as ambassador of Chile to China ( 2014-2017), to India ( 2003-2007) and to South Africa ( 1994-1999), and as a Cabinet Minister in the Chilean Government. A past Vice-President of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), he was CIGI Professor of Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs , Wilfrid Laurier University, from 2007 to 2017, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). He has been a Guggenheim Fellow ; a Visiting Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford University; a United Nations Research Fellow at the Economic Commision for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); a Visiting Professor of Political Science at the University of Konstanz; and the Pablo Neruda Visiting Professor of Latin American Studies at the University of Paris.
“I feel privileged to join Boston University and the distinguished faculty of the Pardee School,” Amb. Heine said. “At a time of major shifts in the international system, being part of such a remarkable group of colleagues with so many overlapping interests with my own is both stimulating and energizing. As someone who believes strongly in the interface between theory and practice, I feel honored to be able to share the insights gained in decades of experience on the front lines of diplomacy and of IR research in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. And I could not think of a more rewarding task than working with students from all over the world, such as those at BU, in mapping out the changes taking place in the existing world order.”
William Grimes, Pardee School Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, said the five new faculty members will help to advance the mission of the Pardee School and bring new expertise to enhance the school’s academic offerings.
“Our incoming faculty reflect the aims and ambition of the Pardee School. We will be welcoming three distinguished practitioners whose work ranges across development, the military, and diplomacy,” said Grimes. “We will also be welcoming two new assistant professors whose work spans history, politics, gender, development, and human rights. Geographically, our new faculty bring expertise in Latin America, India, and China. They will enrich our curriculum, student mentoring, research profile, and public voice.”