John G. Ruggie Named Berthold Beitz Professor at Harvard Kennedy School

CAMBRIDGE, MA – International relations scholar John G. Ruggie has been appointed Berthold Beitz professor in human rights and international affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He will be the first incumbent of the chair. The announcement was made by Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Dean David T. Ellwood.

Ruggie, who joined the HKS faculty in 2001 and is also an affiliated professor of international legal studies at Harvard Law School, is the former director of HKS’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. He has served as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights since 2005 and previously was U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Planning, where his achievements included establishing the Millennium Development Goals and the U.N. Global Compact, now the world’s largest corporate citizenship initiative.

Trained as a political scientist, Ruggie’s research has focused on globalization and global rule-making, most recently in the area of business and human rights. Foreign Policy magazine has named him as one of the 25 most influential international relations scholars in the United States and Canada, and Ethical Corporation magazine included him among its top ten “Ethical Leaders” for 2008.

“John Ruggie’s significant experience on the global stage – working at the critical nexus of corporate social responsibility and public policy – makes him uniquely qualified to serve as the Beitz professor,” said Ellwood. “His writing and research on issues surrounding globalization, rule-making, and international politics provide important perspectives for students, scholars and practitioners, both here at the Kennedy School and across the world.”

“I am honored to hold a chair named for an extremely courageous business man whose compassion and valor are an inspiration to all of us who work to promote human rights and enhance responsible corporate behavior,” said Ruggie.

The Beitz Professorship is made possible through the generous support of brothers Robert Ziff (AB 1988), Dirk Ziff (MBA 1993), and Daniel Ziff to honor the life and legacy of their grandfather, Berthold Beitz. Born in Germany in 1913, Beitz is a distinguished humanitarian and philanthropist who is recognized for having saved the lives of hundreds of Jews during World War II. After the war, Beitz became one of Germany’s leading industrialists. He was appointed chief executive of Krupp Group in 1953 and, in 1968, became chairman of the Krupp Foundation, a position he still holds today. In 1973 Beitz was honored with the title “Righteous Among the Nations” by the state of Israel. In 1990 Beitz retired as CEO of Krupp. He remains chairman-emeritus of ThyssenKrupp AG, one of the world’s largest producers of steel.

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