CFR Names Sam Vigersky a Fellow
By experts and staff
- Published
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is pleased to name Sam Vigersky a fellow in the David Rockefeller Studies Program, CFR’s think tank. His research and writing will focus on humanitarian statecraft and modernizing emergency relief in response to armed conflicts and natural disasters.
Most recently, Mr. Vigersky served as a CFR international affairs fellow, analyzing international humanitarian aid following the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). His reports for CFR have examined the worsening crisis in Haiti, the global effects of the Iran war, and the redesign of U.S. humanitarian aid at the Department of State. Prior to that, Mr. Vigersky was the senior humanitarian advisor to the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, where he led humanitarian policy and resolution negotiations in the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
Mr. Vigersky also worked in USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance from 2014 to 2019, where he developed and managed programs across two dozen countries. He led U.S. disaster assistance response teams in Liberia and Sierra Leone during the West Africa Ebola outbreak, the Ethiopia famine response, and the Boko Haram complex emergency in northeast Nigeria.
“We are pleased to have Sam continue his work at the Council as a fellow,” said Shannon O’Neil, senior vice president of studies and Maurice R. Greenberg chair. “His experience in humanitarian policy and disaster assistance response will continue to bolster CFR’s work on some of the world’s most pressing crises.”
Before joining the federal government, Mr. Vigersky worked at the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization and was based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the 2010 earthquake and cholera outbreak. He has worked domestically at the Department of Health in Washington, DC, the University of Michigan, and the American Red Cross.
Mr. Vigersky holds a bachelor of arts from Reed College and a master of social work from the University of Michigan.
To request an interview with Mr. Vigersky or another CFR fellow, please email [email protected].
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