The 2014 Ivory Tower Survey, a survey conducted annually by Foreign Policy magazine, recently ranked the Josef Korbel School of International Studies as 11th in the world among international relations master’s programs for careers in policy. According to the Foreign Policy article, the survey used responses from 1,615 international relations scholars in 1,375 U.S. colleges and universities to compile the rankings.

“The Josef Korbel School provides future global leaders with the expertise they need to understand the complex challenges of our globalized world,” said Dean of the Korbel School Christopher R. Hill in a recent press release. “We’re honored to be recognized as one the world’s leading schools for preparing the next generation of policy professionals and scholars.”

Each scholar in the survey was asked to list his or her top-five programs, which indicates that many other scholars have the Korbel School on their radar.

“Our location instills an independent perspective,” said David Proper, Director of Communications at the Korbel school. “[Additionally,] our faculty is very problem-focused.”

The scholars were also asked a series of questions on policy area, topics and influential policy-makers. From these responses, Condoleezza Rice, alumna of the Korbel school, ranked 11th amongst most effective secretaries of state, while Madeleine Albright, daughter of Josef Korbel (founder and first dean of the school), ranked fourth. However, none of the top-15 most influential international relations scholars of the past 20 years have direct ties to the Korbel school.
“They may not be on the list now, but some of our young scholars may be down the road,” said Proper, mentioning specifically Associate Professor Erica Chenoweth and her work on non-violent resistance.

Name recognition, as Proper identified, is important to how scholars view other universities, which then affects rankings like this. Proper also identified Assistant Professor Cullen Hendrix as an up-and-coming Korbel scholar.

Proper stated that the future (and past) of the Korbel school relies on work on the part of all of the Korbel faculty and preparing students as best possible for careers in whichever field they choose to enter.

For more information on the Korbel School and its programs, go to the Korbel School website at korbel.du.edu.