Jeremy Adelman Photo: Denise Applewhite
Jeremy Adelman, a scholar of Latin American and world history and chair of the Department of History, has been appointed the inaugural director of Princeton's Council on International Teaching and Research, which was created as part of a series of internationalization initiatives outlined this fall. His appointment is effective immediately.
Adelman co-chaired the President's Advisory Committee on Internationalization, which was formed by President Shirley M. Tilghman to investigate how the University should respond to the phenomenon of globalization. Adelman and co-chair Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, led the faculty committee in identifying numerous recommendations that formed the basis of a report issued in October by Tilghman and Provost Christopher L. Eisgruber mapping out an international vision for Princeton.
The Council on International Teaching and Research was established to provide further leadership and advocacy for international endeavors at the University. It has comparable status to other major faculty councils such as the Council on Science and Technology and the Council of the Humanities, and eventually will have a home in Frick Hall, which will become a hub for international initiatives after the chemistry department moves from there to its new building.
Adelman will lead the council in continuing the strategic planning process begun by the Adelman-Slaughter Committee; overseeing the distribution of new resources to support international visitors and projects; reviewing University policies for establishing international collaborations and partnerships; identifying changes to policies when such amendments are needed to encourage more international activity; and monitoring the University's progress in meeting its international objectives.
"I am thrilled that Jeremy Adelman has accepted this appointment, because he brings to the job an ideal combination of scholarly distinction, international interests and administrative experience," Eisgruber said. "Through his own research, as well as his leadership of the Program in Latin American Studies and the Department of History, he has long been at the forefront of Princeton's international teaching and research ventures. That is why Shirley Tilghman and I asked him to co-chair the committee that investigated how to grow those initiatives, and we are very pleased that Princeton's international efforts will continue to benefit from his exceptional vision.
"Jeremy Adelman's appointment will give Princeton's new programs instant credibility on this campus and throughout the scholarly world," Eisgruber added.
"I am deeply honored that the president and provost have entrusted me with this challenge," Adelman said. "Universities around the country are grappling with how to position themselves in the increasingly global flows of intellectual exchange. The world of learning in the United States has always been part of the world, from the training of American scholars in European universities in the 19th century, to the welcome of intellectuals driven from their homes by tyrants of the 20th century. More and more, American students and scholars cross borders as part of their learning and research, while peers from around the world call Princeton a home. It will be our challenge to ensure that the University has the infrastructure and means to enhance its place on the globe.
"Being Canadian, having studied for many years in Britain, and living in several countries in Latin America before moving to the United States, I have some sense of the opportunities and issues that confront us," he said. "I am also looking forward to learning much more from colleagues at Princeton and beyond."
Adelman will work with Tilghman and Eisgruber on the composition of the 11-member council, and a search is under way for a new associate or vice provost for international initiatives who will serve as secretary to the council.
"We would like to explore our own internal policies that apply to international exchanges of various sorts to ensure that Princeton is open to cross-border flows of students and scholars," Adelman said of the council's mission. "We will also be interested in the ways in which we are positioning our students and colleagues to take advantage of international opportunities, from the ways in which we provide language training to funding schemes for collaborative research. At this stage, the concern will be principally with getting the policies and infrastructures we need in order to make the best of the challenges that lie ahead."
Adelman, who joined the Princeton faculty in 1992, is the Walter Samuel Carpenter III Professor in Spanish Civilization and Culture and professor of history. He has been chair of the history department since 2004 and will remain in the position through the end of the academic year as a search for his successor is conducted. He directed the Program in Latin American Studies from 1997 to 2001.
Adelman's books include "Frontier Development: Land, Labour and Capital on the Wheatlands of Argentina and Canada," "Republic of Capital: Buenos Aires and the Legal Transformation of the Atlantic World," "Sovereignty and Revolution in the Iberian Atlantic" and "Worlds Together, Worlds Apart," a history of the world from the origins of humankind, which he co-wrote with colleagues in the history department.
A graduate of the University of Toronto, he holds a master's degree in economic history from the London School of Economics and a D.Phil. in modern history from the University of Oxford. Before coming to Princeton, he was on the faculty of the University of Essex and a visiting lecturer at the Instituto Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires.
