James Ron

Stassen Chair in International Affairs

University of Minnesota

Jamesr@umn.edu

James Ron is the Harold E. Stassen Chair of International Affairs at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Department of Political Science, and a visiting professor at Mexico City's CIDE research institute for the 2011-12 academic year. 

Previously, Prof. Ron taught at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa,  McGill University in Montreal, and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He has also been a research fellow at the Brookings Institution and Brown University's Watson Institute.

James was born in the US, grew up in Israel, and earned a PhD in sociology from UC Berkeley in 1999. He worked for the Associated Press, and has consulted for Human Rights Watch, the International Committee of the Red Cross, CARE, and the International Diabetes Federation. While in Canada, Prof. Ron did applied research with support from Canadian government agencies. 

Ron publishes in scholarly and popular venues. His book on state violence appeared in 2003, and he is now working on a second book dealing with rights-based organizations in the global South (details). His research portfolio includes statistical analyses of human rights reporting by NGOs and the Anglo-American media; violence in Israel and Serbia; militias and oil in Africa; terrorism in Peru; and the organizational dynamics of international aid. After his son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Ron began studying the disease's management in the developing world with partners in Canada, India, Mexico, and Australia.  

James Ron is married to Emma Naughton, an international development professional. They have two children; five-year-old Sacha, and eight-year-old Tessa.