Catherine Bertini
Professor of Practice, Public Administration and International Affairs
Degree
B.A., State University of New York at Albany, 1971
Specialties
International organizations, United Nations, humanitarian relief, agricultural development, education of girls, hunger and food security
Personal Website
http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/cbertini/
Courses
PAI 759: Girls' Education
Description:
This seminar course will explore the benefits of girl's education, will discuss many of the obstacles to higher numbers of girls in school, and will review the current state of play in various countries.
PAI 764: United Nations Organizations – Managing for Change
Description:
This class will analyze processes for change in United Nations organizations, particularly within voluntarily funded UN organizations and in organizations funded by assessed contributions.
PAI 765: Humanitarian Action – Challenges, Responses, Results
Description:
This course will examines major humanitarian challenges worldwide since 1992, including disasters caused by nature and by man, conflicts, and major economic stress.
PAI 719: Post Conflict Reconstruction
Description:
The goal of this class is to familiarize students with the broad literature on post conflict reconstruction, the various dimensions and goals of post-conflict work, the types of actors that conduct it, the trade-offs and dilemmas they face, and the lessons learned from its application across various settings.
PAI 711: Practicum in International Organizations
Description:
The course involves a five-day-per-week internship in one of the many international organizations located in Geneva. The internship is intended to provide students with exposure to the day-to-day problems and challenges faced by a particular international organization. The internship is augmented by an initial orientation in which concepts of how to understand the workings of international organizations are presented as well as visits to a number of offices for briefings. Then there are evening seminars that consist of guest lectures by international officials, and of group presentations by students on topics related to their area of work. Receptions and group meals provide the opportunity to extend discussions beyond the seminar room. In addition to the group presentation, students use the summer to develop a topic for an independent research paper due at the end of August. The students are evaluated on the basis of participation in the seminar, the group presentation, their internship performance, and the research paper.
PAI 753: Executive Leadership
Description:
(Under development for June 2013)
The goal of this course is for you to cultivate your own leadership style and help you transition from student to professional. Topics covered include: Interest-based negotiation as leadership, work and conflict self assessment, negotiation in groups, managerial mediation as leadership, working with the media, ethical leadership, persuasion and advocacy as leadership, collaborative problem solving as leadership, negotiating in networks, entrepreneurship and creativity as leadership, and leadership styles and assessments.
Biography
Catherine Bertini joined the faculty of the Maxwell
School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 2005. As a Professor of Public
Administration and International Affairs, she teaches courses in Humanitarian
Action, UN Management, Girl's Education, International Organizations, Executive
Leadership, and Post-Conflict Reconstruction. Her courses draw on the vast
experience she gained during a career spanning public service at international,
national, state, and local levels, and private sector and foundation
experience.
United Nations
Most notably, Ms. Bertini’s leadership of the UN World
Food Programme transformed WFP into the world’s largest humanitarian
organization. As WFP’s Executive Director, first proposed by President George
H. W. Bush in 1992, and reendorsed by President Bill Clinton in 1997, Ms.
Bertini led the efforts to end famine in North Korea, avert starvation in
Afghanistan, ensure food was delivered effectively during crises in Bosnia and
Kosovo, and prevent mass starvation in the Horn of Africa. Because of her
reforms, WFP was held as the model for UN efficiency, effectiveness, and
accountability. Ms. Bertini was named the 2003 World Food Prize Laureate for
her leadership at WFP in ending famine and decreasing hunger. Later, Ms.
Bertini served as the Under Secretary General for Management and as UN Security
Coordinator. Secretary General Kofi Annan also appointed her as his
Humanitarian Envoy to the Horn of Africa and to Gaza and the West Bank.
Federal Government
Currently, Ms. Bertini serves as a member of the Board of
International Food and Agricultural Development, which advises USAID, having
been appointed by President George W. Bush and reappointed by President Barrack
Obama. Previously, she served as the Assistant Secretary of Food and Consumer
services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture where she drove nationwide
implementation of electronic benefit transfer programs, created a food package
for breastfeeding mothers, and oversaw the design of the Food Guide Pyramid.
In 2012, she served as a member of the Accountability
Review Board on Benghazi, appointed by Secretary Hillary Clinton.
Private Sector/Foundations
Currently she is senior fellow at the Chicago Council of
Global Affairs where she co-chairs the Global Agricultural Development
Initiative. She serves as a board member
of the Stuart Family Foundation, a juror of the Hilton Foundation Humanitarian
Prize, and on the Board of Directors of the Tupperware Brands Corporation. For
two years, she was the Senior Fellow of Agricultural Development at the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation.
Ms. Bertini earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the
State University of New York at Albany and has been accorded with numerous
awards, commendations, and honorary degrees.