PROVIDENCE – U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee has accepted an appointment to Brown University, his alma mater, as a distinguished visiting fellow at the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, the school today announced. The appointment, initially for the spring semester, begins next month.
“In his seven years of service as Rhode Island’s junior U.S. senator, Lincoln Chafee has been an important national political figure and public policy-maker at an especially demanding time in U.S. history,” said Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons. “Having served the public with independence of mind and great courage, he is a wonderful model for Brown students. I am pleased to welcome Senator Chafee back to his alma mater and I look forward to the contributions he will make to the intellectual life of the campus.”
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As a distinguished visiting fellow, he will lead an undergraduate student study group on U.S. foreign policy and will convene groups of students, faculty and policy-makers to discuss issues in international relations. He will also undertake a variety of writing projects.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the impressive group of people dedicated to analyzing the important international issues of our times,” Chafee said. “I hope to contribute my experience in the political side of government to the Watson Institute’s continuing role as a leader in international studies.”
A Brown graduate, with a concentration in classics, he is a member of the university’s Class of 1975. As a student, he was captain of the wrestling team and received the Francis M. Driscoll Award for leadership, scholarship and athletics.
Chafee entered public life in 1985, as a delegate to the R.I. Constitutional Convention. In 1986, he was elected to the Warwick City Council, where he served until his election as mayor in 1992. He had announced his candidacy to succeed his father, Sen. John L.H. Chafee, after the elder Chafee said he was ready to retire from the Senate. Instead, John Chafee died in office in October 1999, and then-Gov. Lincoln Almond appointed the younger Chafee to complete his father’s remaining term. Lincoln Chafee was reelected in 2000.
During his time in the Senate, he has served on the Committee for Foreign Relations, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Environment and Public Works – all, areas that are key to the Watson Institute’s research – and has sponsored or co-sponsored legislation on international human rights, global hunger relief, terrorism and greenhouse gases.
“Scholars at the Watson Institute increasingly collaborate with policy-makers in ways that can influence the course of international affairs,” said Barbara Stallings, director of the Watson Institute. “We are gratified to work with Senator Chafee to enhance and expand our efforts in this direction.”
The Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University is a center for research and teaching on international affairs, focusing on global development, environment and security, and related issues of culture and identity. For further information, visit www.watsoninstitute.org/.
