The Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) is proud to announce that one of its own, Ambassador J. Brady Anderson, Vice Chair of the Institute for Global Engagement’s Board of Directors, received a doctor of public service honorary degree at the May 10 commencement ceremony of the University of South Carolina. Amb. Anderson has been a long time friend and supporter of IGE, standing in solidarity with the Institute and its core belief in the absolute importance of universal human dignity and the protection of all faiths through the rule of law.

From 1999-2001 Amb. Anderson served as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and from 1994-1997served as the US Ambassador to Tanzania. Amb. Anderson has also dedicated much of his personal life to working on literacy and translation of mother-tongue materials worldwide, including significant time spent working in Ethiopia and Tanzania. Before leaving the United States to work in eastern Africa, he served as Special Assistant to then Governor William Clinton, having previously served under President Clinton as Assistant Attorney General in the Arkansas Attorney General’s office.

IGE has benefitted greatly from Ambassador Anderson’s vast global experience and expertise, as both an active advisor and contributor to IGE projects and publications. Working alongside IGE at the forefront of the emerging field of religion and global affairs, Amb. Anderson has contributed to IGE’s research, education, and relational diplomacy which works worldwide through local partners to encourage flourishing societies and stable states through sustainable religious freedom. In 2007, Ambassador Anderson was a featured speaker at the IGE sponsored forum on “Faith and Foreign Policy”, which convened leading scholars, civic leaders, policy makers, and other public officials to explore the intersections among religious belief, identity, and political stability. The forum built upon IGE’s groundbreaking book Religion and Security: The New Nexus in International Relations, a resource for practitioners and decision-makers which seeks to provide a critical analysis of both the stabilizing and destabilizing effects of religious practice in global affairs and foreign policy.

Amb. Anderson has also served as author and contributor on several articles in IGE’s flagship journal, The Review of Faith & International Affairs. As the core program of the Center on Faith & International Affairs (CFIA), IGE’s research and publications arm, The Review of Faith & International Affairs is one of the premier resources on religion and international affairs; and a decade after 9/11 it is the only journal focused exclusively on how religion and religious freedom affect contemporary global issues. Amb. Anderson’s contributions to this important source of scholarship have included articles on U.S. foreign assistance policy and on literacy and development in Africa. Amb. Anderson’s contributions to the Journal, and other areas of IGE’s research and scholarship, continue to make an indelible impact on the success and impact of IGE’s work.

In addition to serving on IGE’s Board of Directors, Amb. Anderson is Chairman of the Board of Wycliffe Bible Translators (Orlando, FL), an investor in small businesses, and a consultant in international affairs. He is a partner in the Charleston Philanthropic Partnership a social venture partnership whose partners invest time, expertise, and charitable dollars in local non profits in order to effect long-term positive change in the Charleston, SC community by building capacity in the nonprofit sector.

For additional information or to learn more about how IGE partners with leading organizations across the globe on religious freedom issues, please contact Christy Vines, Senior Vice President for Global Initiatives and Strategy at cvines@globalengage.org.