A Letter from the Director
A warm welcome to the Center for Global Development and Sustainability. GDS addresses issues of vulnerability that erode or deny the benefits of development to populations at risk. We are an applied research center and think tank that produces scholarship and plans practical solutions to sustain and enhance well-being throughout the world. We are grateful for the generosity of the late Seymour Bluestone, MD, whose bequest supports research and program development at GDS.
While our mission is broad and our footprint large, we work on intersecting teams that are highly focused and specialized. We have staying power too and plot our own course in partnership with some of the world’s leading institutions of higher learning, global development institutions, international development agencies, civil society organizations, and private foundations.
Our faculty and researchers have decades of experience in developing countries living and working with the poor and marginalized. That touchstone remains our test for fancy talk and theories disconnected from the lived experience on the ground. And our faculty and staff return from missions abroad with dirt under their fingernails as we seek to investigate concepts, evaluate policies and programs, develop new ideas and translate them into sustainable practical solutions for application.
I invite you to explore our website to learn about our current programs, to contact us with your suggestions and to participate in our educational symposia and outreach events.
Laurence R. Simon, PhD
Professor of International Development and Director,
Center for Global Development and Sustainability
simon@brandeis.edu