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At a meeting of national alumni and parent volunteers last night in New York City, announced the launch of the —a nonpartisan center that aims to forge innovative approaches to international security research while preparing undergraduates to lead in a transformed geopolitical order.

“At a moment of unprecedented challenges to global security and economic stability, the Davidson Institute formalizes ���㽶��Ƶ’s commitment to making a meaningful impact in the world, thanks to the extraordinary relationships our faculty share with global political, military, and business leaders,” President Beilock says. “We are profoundly grateful to the generosity of Jim, Julia, and the whole Davidson family for making this possible.”

Beilock announced the institute following a program with former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson ’68 and former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, a and a Magro Family Distinguished Visitor in International Affairs at the at ���㽶��Ƶ. The program introduced key themes that the Institute will explore, including the changing nature of statecraft in the new geopolitical order and the evolving dynamic between questions of economic prosperity and national security.

“Leadership—in all its forms including statecraft—asks us to not dodge tough problems, but to run toward them and encourage others to do likewise,” Paulson says. “With this new institute, ���㽶��Ƶ and President Beilock are ready to do their part.”

“I’m delighted that ���㽶��Ƶ is launching the Davidson Institute for Global Security now to harness knowledge and inspire young people to become engaged in global issues,” Sullivan adds. “Having had the opportunity to teach and interact with the ���㽶��Ƶ community, I know this institute will be able to address the vital challenges of our time—at exactly the moment we need it.”

Davidson family gift honors ���㽶��Ƶ faculty commitment

The idea for the Davidson Institute emerged from faculty leadership and was encouraged by ���㽶��Ƶ parents and volunteer leaders Jim and Julia Davidson, who provided early seed funding for a four-year pilot and ultimately the major lead gift. Private gifts from another 20 ���㽶��Ƶ alumni and parents will establish the institute with $34 million in support to date.

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President Sian Leah Beilock, center, announced the launch of the Davidson Institute for Global Security at an event at The Frick Collection’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium in New York City on May 20. From left are Thomas Candon, the institute’s senior associate director; Dickey Center Director Tori Holt; Wendy Paulson; former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson ’68; President Beilock; Julia Davidson; Jim Davidson; former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan; and Daryl Press, the institute’s faculty director. (Photo by Nicole Pereira)

The Davidsons are longtime members of the President’s Leadership Council at ���㽶��Ƶ, and Julia served on the Call to Lead Campaign Committee.

The couple has three children, who all studied at ���㽶��Ƶ: a son who graduated in 2019, a daughter who graduated in 2023, and another daughter who attended ���㽶��Ƶ in 2020 for two terms on the Twelve College Exchange and participated in the .

“We believe that ���㽶��Ƶ offers an exceptional education because of the uncommon commitment of its faculty experts to undergraduate learning,” says Jim Davidson. “We’ve seen it firsthand with our own children and hope that generations of ���㽶��Ƶ students will discover their passion for service and leadership through these new programs, whether they pursue careers in public service or in business.”

‘A virtuous cycle’: A distinctive combination of research, policy engagement, and undergraduate education

The pilot Initiative for Global Security was incubated at the Dickey Center. Professor of Government , who led the initiative, will serve as the Davidson Institute’s inaugural faculty director.

The institute is built on three interrelated pillars—rigorous research, faculty who are engaged with active policymakers in the U.S. and abroad, and a focus on relevant, demanding undergraduate education—whose connections are what Press calls “the secret sauce” that makes the institute unique among peer institutions. 

“It all starts with the research. When we do rigorous research and bring our findings to the policy community, the policymakers learn from us, and we also learn from them,” Press says. “Then we bring that knowledge back to the classroom, and the result is a far more vibrant, real-world experience for our students. Great research creates opportunities for serious policy engagement, and that policy engagement makes us better teachers.”

At the same time, students across the university are excited to engage in research and policy, with many going on to policymaking roles or academia themselves.

“It’s a virtuous cycle,” Press says.

“The Davidson Institute is a fantastic outgrowth of years of collaboration among ���㽶��Ƶ faculty—particularly in government, history, and, increasingly, economics, business, cybertechnology, and energy—to animate scholarship, policy and new knowledge,” says , Norman E. McCulloch Jr. Director of the Dickey Center. “Together with policymakers, we can shape real-world engagement and problem-solving, on and off campus.”

An unparalleled undergraduate experience

The Davidson Institute strengthens ���㽶��Ƶ’s unparalleled undergraduate education. Through the institute, ���㽶��Ƶ students will have access to classes, internships, immersive trips in the U.S. and abroad, and regular access to visiting global thought-leaders. 

Students will have opportunities to collaborate on research with top faculty in international security. One such research partnership, between recent alumnus Ben Vagle ’22 and his senior thesis adviser, Professor of Government , led the two to develop Vagle’s thesis into a groundbreaking book, Command of Commerce: America’s Enduring Economic Power Advantage Over China, published this year by Oxford University Press.

Students also have opportunities to contribute research to the Atrocities Early Warning System, developed by Professor of Government and his students in collaboration with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The system uses computer modeling and expert risk analysis to give governments, advocacy groups, NGOs, and at-risk populations reliable predictions of potential mass killings and victimization of civilians, creating more opportunities for action. 

The Davidson Institute will expand opportunities and provide long-term resourcing for the , a year-long program that since 2005 has brought more than 600 undergraduate fellows together from all disciplines to discuss the social, political, moral, and technological dimensions of international conflict and cooperation.

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Business Insider Editor in Chief Jamie Heller ’89 moderates a conversation with former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, center, and former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson ’68 in The Frick Collection’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Auditorium during the ���㽶��Ƶ event on May 20. (Photo by Nicole Pereira)

The War and Peace Fellows participate in quarterly crisis simulations often run by war game designers from the Naval War College, and in 2024, 13 fellows, led by government professor , traveled to Japan and South Korea, and were present in Seoul to witness events after then-President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law. 

Top scholars, rigorous research on the most pressing issues of our time

A deep bench of faculty affiliated with the Davidson Institute are publishing peer-reviewed work on the most salient foreign policy issues of the day, Press says. Recent research topics include:

• The prospects for peace in the Russian-Ukraine war
• China’s rise as a military and technological superpower
• The causes of civilian targeting during wars and predictors of violence aimed against civilians
• The potential for technological controls to keep dangerous technologies out of the hands of U.S. adversaries
• The changing military balance in Asia and what it means for U.S. alliances
• The new wave of nuclear proliferation
• The foundations of the global trade system and the rising dangers to economic growth, prosperity, and cooperation
• What changing U.S. foreign policy means for the international order

Among its other programs, the institute will be home to a recently announced pilot program that also includes the Tuck School of Business and explores the promising intersection of security challenges with questions of economics and business. The pilot is an interdisciplinary collaboration focused on how countries use economic strength and resources to achieve political and economic goals.

The institute will also host the premier U.S. postdoctoral program in the field, the . This highly competitive year-long residency brings leading early-career scholars to ���㽶��Ƶ to work on pressing, complex international security questions. Rosenwald Fellows bring new ideas and research methodologies to campus and are encouraged to bridge the gap between their academic work and the world of policy. In addition to pursuing their own research, fellows receive mentorship from faculty, deliver guest lectures in undergraduate courses, and have the opportunity to expand their professional and policy networks before they go on to careers in academia. Two of the program’s alums, Powers and government professor , are now serving as faculty coordinators in the institute.

Vital engagement with the practicing international security community

Beyond research, institute faculty regularly contribute to the policy process, Press says, providing briefings to senior policymakers in the U.S. National Security Council, Department of Defense, and Department of State, as well as to U.S. military leadership and intelligence agencies and to senior policymakers at NATO and in allied countries.

Faculty also frequently collaborate with researchers from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other key economic institutions to bring their expertise to the institutions working to shape the international economy and publish analyses in public-facing outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, and other major newspapers.

The institute will also be an active convener of conversations with major players in the international security world, sponsoring a speaker series featuring international security experts with a broad range of expertise, perspectives, and experiences, and continuing to host an international security forum in Washington, D.C., that ���㽶��Ƶ launched in 2022.

This year’s forum is a conference titled “World of Change: Adapting to New U.S. Policy Directions” that begins May 30 and will feature panels on globalization, multilateral institutions, European security, and China-Taiwan relations. The forum will be kicked off by David Sanger, White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.

The evening before the conference, the Davidson Institute will host a reception for ���㽶��Ƶ alumni, conference participants, and others in the international security community. Beilock will welcome guests to participate in a discussion with Robert Zoellick, 11th President of the World Bank and former deputy secretary of state and U.S. trade representative. 

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about the Davidson Institute and its programs.