The Institute is pleased to announce that beginning January, 2013 Professor Laura Macdonald of the Department of Political Science will take on the job of Director of the Institute. Professor Macdonald will be the fifth Director in the Institute’s history. Former Directors include Michael Dolan (Political Science), Wallace Clement (Sociology), and Rianne Mahon (Public Policy and Administration and Sociology). Our current Director is Janet Siltanen (Sociology), whose term ends December, 2012. Professor Macdonald was cross-appointed to the Institute in 1999. Since then she has been an active participant in the Institute’s activities, as well as supervisor to many of our students whose research projects focus on Latin America. For more information on Professor Macdonald’s publications and research interests, please click here.