“I am so excited about our stellar group of senior fellows for 2026-27, coming to Watson from countries around the world and from right here in Rhode Island,” said Friedman. “Iván Duque is one of Latin America’s most prominent voices on public policy, economic development and democratic governance, and Gina Raimondo is one of America’s most dynamic political leaders, shaping the national conversation around economic policy and international competitiveness. The opportunity to engage with these leading lawmakers, alongside prominent alums including David Rhode and Jaykumar Menon, truly bridges theory and practice for our students.”
As president of Colombia from 2018 to 2022, Duque earned widespread praise from human rights organizations for accepting and providing aid to Venezuelan refugees. After his presidency, Duque launched the Iván Duque Center for Prosperity and Freedom, an initiative that advances dialogue and policies that promote prosperity, freedom and sustainable development. Duque is the recipient of the 2022 Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Public Service, the National Geographic Society’s Planetary Leadership Award and was the inaugural Cornell University Emerging Markets Institute distinguished fellow.
“It is a great honor to join the Watson School, one of the world’s most prestigious institutions dedicated to public policy formulation and analysis, and to understanding the connection between thinking globally and acting locally,” said Duque. “It is a renowned school, with an outstanding faculty and exceptional leadership under Professor Friedman. I am deeply honored to be part of this team and to contribute my experience to the development of students as they prepare to serve successfully in both the public and private sectors.”
Throughout her political career — as Rhode Island’s general treasurer and its first female governor and as U.S. secretary of commerce — Raimondo has focused on infrastructure, job creation and workforce development. As governor, Raimondo made record investments in infrastructure, positioned Rhode Island to become one of the first states to offer tuition-free community college, and launched Real Jobs RI, a workforce development program designed to align workers’ skills with businesses’ needs. As secretary of commerce, she played a key role in passing and implementing the CHIPS & Science Act. After leaving office, Raimondo has maintained her focus on job growth and training by launching RAISE US, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping workers transition in an AI-driven economy. RAISE US is a key partner of the Watson School’s Workforce Development Policy Lab.
“I’m looking forward to joining the Watson School community and engaging with students passionate about public service and public policy,” said Raimondo. “Their creativity and ingenuity will bring new ideas to the most pressing challenges facing the United States and the world, from AI to other facets of global competition.”
While she is at Watson, the School will host a series of conferences featuring Raimondo, and she will organize and participate in public events, the first of which will be held on October 26.
Raimondo is not the only incoming fellow with ties to Rhode Island. Both Menon and Rohde are 1990 graduates of Brown University. Menon is also a recipient of the William Rogers Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a Brown graduate for outstanding professional achievement and extraordinary service to humanity.
An international human rights lawyer and social entrepreneur, Menon played a key role in securing a historic $4 billion judgment for the victims of the Bosnian genocide. He also helped secure the exoneration of David Wong, who had spent more than a decade imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. As a human rights activist, Menon has championed access to healthcare and adequate nutrition as fundamental human rights. He co-founded the India Nutrition Initiative to combat malnutrition in the country. He is also chair and co-founder of the Open Source Pharma Foundation, an organization that applies open-source computing principles to pharmaceuticals to help deliver affordable generic medicines to underserved populations.
Rohde is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and editor known for his international and national security reporting. His reporting was instrumental in uncovering the atrocities committed against Bosnian Muslims during the Bosnian War of 1992–1995, and he played a key role in uncovering the abuse of detainees at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq. His reporting landed him in a Bosnian prison for 12 days, and he was held captive by the Taliban for over seven months. In 2012, the International Press Institute named Rohde its 63rd World Press Freedom Hero.
“We are honored to have Jaykumar and David return to Brown as senior fellows, where they can serve as inspiration to the next generation of exceptional Brown leaders,” said Friedman.
On October 24, in a special Brown Family Weekend event, Rohde will discuss his path from being a Brown undergraduate to two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent and editor with Watson School Dean John N. Friedman. On October 26, Raimondo will sit down with Friedman for a Dean’s Fireside Chat. Other events involving senior fellows will be scheduled throughout the year. Students can register for study groups beginning on Wednesday, September 9.
Additional non-credit opportunities will be hosted throughout the year by returning senior fellows. This includes a study group led by Deborah Gordon, who will lead sessions on climate change; a policy-focused group on immigration led by Leon Rodriguez; and more opportunities for students to explore.
