Saad Ansari

Major

International Relations

Degree

School

Yale University

Sponsor 2013

Dollar-A-Day Scholarship Fund

Bio

Saad Ansari studies the rule of law as a means of improving human security and development as an MA candidate at Yale’s Jackson Institute, where he also serves as the executive director of the Yale Journal of International Affairs and teaching fellow. While at Yale, he completed an internship at the Brookings Institute, focusing on US-Middle East relations. Prior to Yale, Saad graduated from the University of Michigan, with a BA in political science and Islamic studies. There, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Michigan Journal of International Affairs and studied in Turkey and Vietnam. Thereafter, he co-established startups, including an Arabic institute, VA, a community organization which caters to refugees, AZ, and a cultural center in downtown NYC, while teaching classes, and continuing studies on Islamic legal and ethical texts.

After graduating from Yale, Saad hopes to promote the rule of law in post-conflict and weak states through research, support higher education in developing countries through university partnerships, and write about topics relevant to building healthy governments and civil societies, especially through biographies. Saad speaks Arabic, Spanish, and Urdu and encourages hiking at US National Parks.

Update

Saad Ansari serves in the Obama Administration in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Policy – Stability and Humanitarian Affairs, where he helps develop proactive policy and inter-organizational relationships to avert and manage conflict in fragile states. He also designs and prototypes solar energy technology with a startup team based out of Boston. Currently, Saad is learning the art and science of turning the complexity of massive organizations and operations into simplicity, for more effective and innovative governance. strongly supports and volunteers his time to open institutions of public learning, debate, and creativity. Saad graduated from Yale’s Jackson Institute in 2014 (MA), and the University of Michigan (BA Arabic & Islamic Studies, PolSci) in 2009, and has a learned a great deal from traveling and experimenting.

Areas of interest

International Studies