In just three years, the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs has gained 13 new faculty members, established postdoctoral and faculty fellows programs, integrated with the Taubman Center for American Institutions Politics and Policy and increased its endowment by more than $30 million.
With the Nov. 2 announcement of a as part of the , the institute has now raised over $80 million in three years.
This rapid growth marks a break from the past for the University鈥檚 hub of international and public affairs. Prior to the arrival of now-Provost Richard Locke P鈥�17 as director in July 2013, the Watson Institute passed through the hands of six different directors in eight years.
鈥淲e were struggling for identity, coherence and direction for several years before Rick came,鈥� said Ashutosh Varshney, director of the Brown-India Initiative and professor of political science and international and public affairs, who has been at the University since 2009.
When President Christina Paxson P鈥�19 assumed her post at the University in July 2012, 鈥渟trengthening Watson and using Watson to strengthen allied departments was a priority,鈥� she said. Paxson previously served as dean of Princeton鈥檚 Woodrow Wilson School of International and Public Affairs.
Arriving to Brown in the midst of yet another Watson director search, Paxson seized the opportunity to tap a leader with a clear vision for the institute.
鈥淣ot that I want to make Watson another version of the Wilson, but I think my experience in the field did give me an edge in being able to recruit people for it,鈥� she said.
In October 2012, the University offered the post to Locke, then serving as deputy dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology鈥檚 Sloan School of Management and head of its political science department.
Locke accepted the offer the following month.
Watson 鈥渟howed so much promise, and it was such an interesting moment in Brown鈥檚 history,鈥� Locke said. 鈥淚 thought that I could do something different and play a role in helping to shape Brown鈥檚 future.鈥�
Launching the new Watson
Though Locke鈥檚 post did not officially commence until the summer, he paid weekly visits to campus starting in January 2013.
During this time, he worked with the faculty members of Watson鈥檚 two existing concentrations 鈥� international relations and development studies 鈥� to develop a strategic plan for the institute. He also met with faculty members across the University to discuss potential partnerships.
Locke鈥檚 ultimate goal was 鈥渢o get Watson back on the map, because it wasn鈥檛 on the map at all,鈥� he said.
He quickly determined that this would require raising Watson鈥檚 profile within the University.
鈥淥ne of Rick鈥檚 conclusions soon after arriving here was that Watson was too separated from the rest of Brown,鈥� said Stephen Kinzer, senior fellow in international and public affairs. 鈥淗e made a concerted effort to integrate it with other programs going on at Brown.鈥�
In light of the high turnover rate of Watson鈥檚 leadership, Locke initially faced skepticism from faculty members.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 name names, but my colleagues and our department didn鈥檛 have the highest opinion of what was going on at Watson鈥� before Locke took the helm, said Glenn Loury, professor of economics and the social sciences and faculty fellow at Watson. It had a reputation for being 鈥渁 mess鈥� and 鈥渘ot well run,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here had been so many directors, and this time the change was going to happen,鈥� Locke said. 鈥淭he biggest challenge was to convince people 鈥� that they needed to have faith.鈥�
To combat skepticism, Locke involved faculty members in the creation of Watson鈥檚 strategic plan, relying on transparency to build trust.聽
The plan called for Watson to establish postdoctoral and faculty fellows programs, increase its faculty size and focus its activities on three themes: development, security and governance.
Fundraising and hiring
Three years ago, Watson had six faculty positions. When Locke accepted the directorship, he requested funding to double this count to 12. Since then, he has fundraised for the creation of seven additional faculty positions.
These 13 new openings have been filled with faculty members from schools including the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard, the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago, Locke said.聽
鈥淲hen we were winning against these other universities that have a lot of visibility, people started noticing,鈥� he said.
Every hiring offer made by Watson in the past two-and-a-half years has been accepted, he added.
鈥淧eople really bought into the vision of what we鈥檙e trying to build and what we鈥檙e doing at Brown,鈥� Locke said. 鈥淪o it wasn鈥檛 just Watson. It was the whole idea that Watson could succeed because it was building on a much broader set of resources and relationships at Brown.鈥�
Watson鈥檚 building, once nearly empty, is now bustling with activity and even running out of space, Locke said.
鈥淟ocke lit a fire under this place,鈥� Kinzer said. 鈥淭his is the most exciting intellectual environment I have ever been in.鈥�
鈥淎 guy down the hall from me was the press spokesman for five secretaries of state,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he lady across the hall over here was the Indian ambassador to China and the United States. The other day at the coffee machine, I ran into the former president of Chile.鈥�
Locke 鈥渉as the foresight to bring in these practicing or ex-practicing diplomats or high-level spokespeople and fosters an environment in which those experts want to develop the next generation,鈥� said Sophie Purdom 鈥�16, a research assistant for Richard Boucher, senior fellow in international and public affairs.
鈥淲e look at the Wilson School and the Kennedy School, and we say, 鈥楤ring it on. We can breathe at that altitude,鈥欌�� Kinzer said.
Taubman on board
The growth of Watson鈥檚 influence on and beyond campus continued with, a process which took place over the 2014-15 academic year.
The Watson Institute for International Studies thus became the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, offering a public policy concentration in addition to its two existing undergraduate programs.
The integration 鈥渨as something that people had talked about for years, and Chris Paxson thought it was a good idea,鈥� Locke said.
The University supported the initiative because 鈥渢o think about policy issues as strictly domestic or strictly international doesn鈥檛 really reflect the world in which we live,鈥� said Marisa Quinn, director of communication and outreach at Watson.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not about international versus domestic,鈥� Locke said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about big problems in the world, and those big problems 鈥� development, security, governance 鈥� cut across national borders.鈥�
Taubman鈥檚 four faculty members joined the ranks of Watson, and at 59 Charlesfield St. 鈥� adjacent to the Watson building, 鈥� which will serve as an extension of Watson and house Taubman faculty members.
The building will open in January, said Shankar Prasad MA鈥�03 PhD鈥�06, associate director for academic planning and programs at Watson.
In August 2014, Locke recruited Prasad from New York University, where he served as the director of undergraduate studies at the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service.
Prasad worked with Locke and James Morone, director of the Taubman Center, to facilitate the integration and reshape Taubman鈥檚 graduate program.
Taubman formerly offered two-year master鈥檚 programs in public policy and public affairs. These programs were combined to create an intensive one-year MPA, which is now Watson鈥檚 鈥渟ignature master鈥檚 program,鈥� Prasad said.聽
Because Watson is an institute rather than a school, only its master鈥檚 programs are ranked, rather than Watson itself.
The 38 students in the first-year cohort 鈥� a quarter of whom were Brown undergraduates 鈥� started the program in June and will graduate in May, Prasad said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really, really important for us to improve the rankings of our public policy program,鈥� Prasad said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of the reason we鈥檝e invested so many resources, so much energy and so much time into rethinking it.鈥�
U.S. 国产偷拍 and World Report releases its MPA rankings once every four years. In 2012, the last time rankings were released, the Taubman Center came in at 53.
鈥淚 think Rick would like to see us as a top-10 program in the next four years or so, and I think that鈥檚 also possible, especially given the momentum that is there,鈥� Prasad said.
Watson鈥檚 future
In July 2015, Locke stepped into his current role as provost, but has since simultaneously continued to serve as Watson director. Edward Steinfeld, professor of political science and China studies and director of the China Initiative, .
Steinfeld will be responsible for executing Paxson鈥檚 goal of making Watson 鈥渁 top-five school of its kind in the U.S.,鈥� as stated in Paxson鈥檚 operational plan, which translates the goals in her strategic plan 鈥淏uilding on Distinction鈥� into concrete actions.
鈥淢y hope is that Watson is going to be the leading light in achieving the goals laid out in 鈥楤uilding on Distinction,鈥欌�� Steinfeld said. 鈥淭o come in with the support of senior administration is a great position to be in.鈥�
The recent $50 million gift fits into the 鈥減rocess that the senior administration has laid out of substantially expanding the activities and faculty and student opportunities here at Watson,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the beginning, not the end.鈥�
鈥淭here is no reason why Watson should not be considered one of the top international studies centers in the United States,鈥� Kinzer said. 鈥淯ntil we are acknowledged at that level, the job isn鈥檛 finished.鈥�
