Fletcher program will examine alternatives to terrorist threats
by Terry Ann Knopf

The Fletcher School will launch two major initiatives this fall—a new counterterrorism center and a master’s degree program in international management.

The Jebsen Center on Counterterrorism Studies will identify proactive (predict, prevent, preempt) counterterrorism alternatives to future terrorist threats, said Dean Stephen Bosworth. Named for Jan Henrik Jebsen, a European businessman and philanthropist who provided a three-year, $1.5 million grant for the program, the center will work to increase the understanding and competency of counterterrorism professionals through teaching, research, publications and conferences.

Retired Army Col. Russell D. Howard, a Fletcher graduate, is the center’s director. Most recently he was a professor and head of the Department of Social Sciences at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he also directed the Combating Terrorism Center.

The center has four components: a research program for students and faculty, a senior fellows program, a lecture series and a conference series. The center will be under the supervision of the School’s International Security Studies Program, directed by Prof. Richard Shultz.

Bosworth also announced an anonymous gift of $5 million that will be used to establish an M.S. degree program in international management.