About the event

Women have played an absolutely vital role in the public and professional world of international affairs, especially in international diplomacy, academia, think-tanks, government, and the media.  This panel is designed to highlight the insights and experiences of women who are at different stages of their professional lives.  We will talk about why we chose certain career paths, what factors have been critical to our successes and failures, and unique opportunities and barriers that women experience. 

Leslie Vinjamuri is Head of the US & the Americas Programme and Dean of the Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs at Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs. She is also Reader (Associate Professor) in International Relations at SOAS. From 2010-2018 she founded and was co-Director then Director of an international affairs Centre at SOAS. Leslie writes and speaks about America’s role in the world, international security, intervention, and geopolitics. Her publications have appeared in journals such as International Security, the Annual Review of Political Science, International Theory, Ethics and International Affairs, Daedalus, The World Today, the International Journal of Transitional Justice, Law and Contemporary Problems and Survival as well as numerous edited volumes. Leslie is a regular commentator on BBC, CNN, and Bloomberg and has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Financial Times, and Sky News and contributed articles to the International Herald Tribune, the Telegraph, and the Guardian. Leslie is a Marshall Commissioner. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. From 2015-2018, Dr. Vinjamuri was a member of the Council (a "trustee") of Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs. She is also external examiner of the Oxford University MPhil in International Relations (2020-2023). Leslie has a BA from Wesleyan University, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a PhD from Columbia University.

Joan Kaufman, Sc.D., is the Senior Director for Academic Programs at Schwarzman Scholars and Lecturer in Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She was Director of Columbia University’s Global Center for East Asia (Beijing) from 2012-2016,  Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, and Adjunct Professor of Global Health Policy at Tsinghua University’s Research Center for Public Health. She founded and directed the AIDS Public Policy Project at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (2002-2010) and was also affiliated with Harvard’s Hauser Center for Non-Profit Organizations. From 2003-2012 she was at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management as a Distinguished Scientist, Senior Lecturer, and Associate Director of the Masters in Health Policy and Management. She was a Radcliffe fellow at Harvard from 2001-2002 and a Soros Reproductive Health and Rights Fellow in 2005. She received a Doctorate in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health, following a BA and MA in Chinese Studies. She publishes on global health policy, HIV/AIDS, women’s rights, reproductive health, population, emerging infectious diseases, and civil society with a focus on China.  She worked in China for the United Nations (1980—1984), the Ford Foundation (1996-2001), the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (2002-2012), and Columbia University (2012-2016).

Katherine Morton is the Boeing Chair in International Relations at Schwarzman College, the Chair and Professor of China’s International Relations at the University of Sheffield, and an Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Her research addresses the domestic and international motivations behind China’s changing role in the world and the implications for foreign policy and the study of International Relations. Prior to her appointment at the University of Sheffield she was the Associate Dean for Research at the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University and a Senior Fellow in the Department of International Relations, ANU. Professor Morton is a regular participant in Track II security dialogues and policy briefings on the Asia Pacific. She has been awarded two Senior Memberships to St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, and visiting fellowships to Peking University, Rajaratnam School of International Studies, China Foreign Affairs University, and Columbia University. She has published widely on global governance, transnational security, the environment and climate change, food security, and maritime disputes in the South China Sea. Her current book project with Oxford University Press examines the likely impacts of China’s rising international status upon the evolving system of global governance.

At Chatham House, Rachel Taylor manages the Academy’s fellowship and events programme. Rachel was previously Research and Communications Officer for Common Vision working on innovative projects to increase engagement around long-term and intergenerational societal challenges in the UK. She has also worked in student communications at the University of London.

In 2015-16, Rachel completed a Master’s degree in Sociology at Trinity College Dublin and holds a BA in Politics and Psychology from the University of Liverpool.

Tsinghua University students, faculty, and staff register by scanning the QR code. Attendees must show their confirmed reservation and valid Tsinghua University ID to access this event. Attendees will be admitted to Schwarzman College on condition that they adhere to all building and event policies. This event is not open to members of the media and will be held off the record. No attributions or descriptions of this event may be published or shared online without the written consent from both Tsinghua University and Schwarzman College. This panel discussion will be given in English.