Craig appointed executive director of Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies

Trisha Craig has been named executive director of Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS). She assumed her new duties at Princeton on April 15. 

Craig has been vice president for engagement and senior lecturer in global affairs at Yale-NUS College, an undergraduate liberal arts institution founded jointly by Yale University and the National University of Singapore.

“We are delighted that Trisha Craig is joining PIIRS as our new executive director,” said Deborah Yashar, the Donald E. Stokes Professor of Public and International Affairs and director of PIIRS. “With her outstanding administrative and scholarly background, she brings tremendous international experience and vision to the table.”

With a career in international academia, Craig brings to PIIRS experience in fostering interdisciplinary research, enhancing global education and building international partnerships. At Yale-NUS, she developed a comprehensive study abroad and experiential learning programs and secured critical partnerships with global institutions. Prior to her tenure in Singapore, Craig was executive director of the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, where she expanded the center’s interdisciplinary focus and global engagement, broadened its academic and cultural offerings, and strengthened its ties with global institutions, the diplomatic and business communities, and Harvard’s European alumni.

Craig also has a background in policy and development work, having led programs, taught, and conducted research in education policy and reform, geopolitics, democratic institution building, rural development, and gender and the green transition. She has done field work and advised in El Salvador, Spain, South Africa, India, Thailand, Japan, and China, and received support from agencies and foundations such as USAID, the National Science Foundation, the Luce Foundation and the Asian Development Bank. Craig also has extensive media experience and has provided commentary on issues of geopolitics and international higher education across print, radio and television platforms.

Craig is eager to leverage her expertise and experience to expand PIIRS’s influence, and enrich its contributions to international and regional studies. She is committed to enhancing international partnerships and collaborations and strengthening PIIRS’s offerings to students and scholars alike. “This role presents an extraordinary opportunity to advance our understanding of global and regional dynamics through collaborative research and education,” Craig said. “I’m looking forward to working with faculty, students and distinguished visitors to foster innovative initiatives and strengthen our impact on international scholarship and policy.”

She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Swarthmore College and Ph.D. in sociology from Yale.