2024 Stakeholder Report
In 2024, we published our third annual stakeholder report to share out our successes and challenges. The Director's Note is excerpted below.
I’m excited to share some FY ‘24 highlights from the Global Research Institute (GRI) focused on impactful research, the student experience, and a growing sense of community among our students, faculty, and staff. Our commitment to integrating students and faculty from multiple disciplines to conduct rigorous applied research with external partners has never been stronger. With support from the university, we have developed a model that enhances William & Mary’s liberal arts education and also produces knowledge that makes a difference in the world beyond the ivory tower. I’m not alone in this belief. After 20 years of work, GRI underwent its first-ever external review. Three scholars who have led research institutes at Cornell, Duke, and Georgetown conducted a rigorous evaluation of our work and concluded that “GRI punches above its weight” and provides unique opportunities for students and faculty. If you are interested in their detailed assessment, see here.
The External Review challenged us to imagine what GRI 2.0 might look like. As we think about the next ten years we’ve engaged GRI students and faculty, deans and department chairs from across the university, the Provost’s Office, and especially our own GRI Advisory Board, which has been invaluable in helping us plan for the future. Three things have become clear about our next steps. First, there is enormous demand among William & Mary students and faculty to develop/apply their expertise to real-world problems and to learn from other disciplines. This has encouraged us to reinvest in GRI programs that bring faculty together from across campus including Research in Progress (RIP) Seminars, Book Workshops, Keynote Lectures, Applied Research Training, Conferences here in Williamsburg, etc…These programs are the “front porch” to GRI-supported research collaboration. Second, we need to provide more sustained and predictable support for research programs that have the potential to find an external market and scale in terms of size and impact. Cutting-edge research that is published in leading peer-reviewed outlets, but that also has utility for external partners, is the type of work most likely to find strong supporters in the marketplace of ideas. Third, as the external review made clear, GRI needs stable core financial support to grow beyond its current size and to catalyze the next field-altering project or research stream. Over the past year, we have taken very important steps toward sustainable funding in the form of the Accelerate Initiative and our emerging strategic plan for GRI 2.0.
GRI researcher’s influence and recognition extend internationally, with partnerships and convening events that bridge research and practice. In collaboration with the Robert M. Gates Global Policy Center, we co-hosted the second annual Gates Forum, addressing the future of U.S. development assistance. We hosted a major international conference on International Relations in East Asia through our Security & Foreign Policy Initiative. We also established research collaborations in Kenya with the Ministry of Health, in Colombia with the Truth Commission, and in Rome with the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Beyond research partnerships, the media coverage of GRI’s research, especially the work of AidData, continues to garner increased coverage in media outlets around the world.
One of the cornerstones of GRI is providing transformative research opportunities for students. We do this through partnerships with the Reves Center for International Studies, the William & Mary Washington Center, and the Public Policy Program. This year, our students conducted fieldwork across diverse regions, from Bosnia to Georgia to Tanzania, and took part in the Global Scholars Program, where 18 students from 10 different majors directly engaged with policymakers at major institutions like the World Bank, USAID, UNDP, and on Capitol Hill. These opportunities are essential in shaping the next generation of global researchers and policymakers. As a result of the success of our first two cohorts of Global Scholars students, who were focused on policymaking and global governance with a focus on Europe, this year we added a second cohort with a focus on U.S.-China relations.
With our new location in the center of campus at Swem Library, GRI has enhanced its interdisciplinary culture. We’ve hosted talks from leading scholars, and also current and former leaders from the World Bank, the United Nations, the CIA, Amnesty International, and Microsoft, where we discussed AI regulations, human rights, and the debt crisis in emerging economies. We continue to expand the number and diversity of students and faculty who participate in these events. They are designed to foster a sense of community among students, faculty, and alumni, creating a space for an exchange of ideas and discussions on future collaboration. GRI is preparing for an even more exciting future with the construction of a new, state-of-the-art facility, Robert M. Gates Hall, slated to open in 2026. William & Mary is making a big bet on applied collaborative work by housing GRI with the Institute for Integrative Conservation and the Whole of Government Center of Excellence. After 20 years of moving around campus, we will have a space that is purpose-built to foster collaborative multidisciplinary work. We could not be more excited or more grateful.
Michael J. Tierney
Hylton Professor of Government & International Relations
Director, Global Research Institute
