Scott D. Taylor

Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University

Scott Taylor is Dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, where he is also Professor of International Relations. Prior to leading the Pardee School, he was Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He served as Director of Georgetown’s African Studies Program from 2007-2020. Before joining the faculty at Georgetown, Taylor held the Gwendolen M. Carter Lectureship in African Politics at Smith College.

Taylor has written widely on governance, political and economic development, and political culture in Africa, including numerous articles and four books: Globalization and the Cultures of Business in Africa; Business & the State in Southern Africa; Politics in Southern Africa; and Culture & Customs of Zambia. He has resided in both Zambia and Zimbabwe and traveled widely throughout the African continent. He has consulted extensively on issues of governance, elections, and political economy for bilateral and multilateral development institutions, as well as for corporations and non-profit organizations, and for nearly a decade he served as an advisor to Freedom House for its annual Freedom in the World report. Taylor has observed elections in Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, and served as senior political advisor for Carter Center election observation missions in Kenya in 2017, and Zambia in both 2001 and 2016. Prior to working in academia and African affairs, he was Assistant Treasurer in the Financial Institutions Division at the Bank of New York (now BNY-Mellon). 

Dr. Taylor received his AB in Government and a Certificate in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College, and his MA and Ph.D. in Political Science from Emory University. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

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