Walid Hammam is the Director of the Weatherhead Scholars Program. As a higher education and nonprofit professional, he has promoted interdisciplinary scholarship and programs to create educational experiences that emphasize integrative learning, critical thinking, and creative problem solving. His interests center around international development; the theory and practice of foreign policy and national security decision-making; and the role of religion and identity in international affairs.

Most recently, Walid worked with the Special Commission on Social Science Research in the Middle East & North Africa, a project funded by the Carnegie Corporation, which is dedicated to developing guidelines for the conduct of responsible, ethical, and constructive social inquiry. Prior to that, he spent over a decade at Columbia University’s Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life. There, he collaborated on strategic planning, oversaw day-to-day operations, and developed and managed a range of fellowships, global programs, and research initiatives focusing on several topics, including the relationship between religion/secularism and democracy in states with longstanding religious traditions; migration and refugees; pluralism and democracy; and global populism.