Johns Hopkins SAIS is thrilled to celebrate and honor alumni marking their 5th, 10th, 25th, and 50th anniversaries of graduation from SAIS and the Hopkins-Nanjing Center — the classes of 2020, 2015, 2000, and 1975 — at the 2025 Reunion Weekend in Washington, D.C.

Reunion events will take place on Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29, 2025 at SAIS’ new home at 555 Pennsylvania Ave NW.

The weekend’s program begins on Friday afternoon and includes opportunities to:

• reconnect with fellow classmates

• meet students and share your advice

• be inspired by a keynote speaker

• go back to the classroom with current faculty

• learn about the school’s priorities from SAIS leadership

• explore the new building, and more!

WEEKEND SCHEDULE (subject to change)

Friday, March 28

• 1:00pm - Registration begins (Lobby)

  For security reasons, all registered attendees are required to check-in and receive a SAIS lanyard and nametag. You'll also receive a schedule for the day and a small token of appreciation for joining us at Reunion 2025.

• 2:00pm - 2:45pm – Keynote Address (Theatre - ground floor)

  Gain important perspectives on global issues from our keynote speaker, Nick Schifrin ‘18, Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent, PBS NewsHour. Remarks followed by a fireside chat and Q&A led by SAIS Dean James Steinberg. 

• 3:00pm - 3:45pm – Student Showcase or Building Tours (Classroom 422)

  Hear from current SAIS students as they present their recent SAIS experiential learning experiences and share their perspectives on global issues OR tour the Hopkins Bloomberg Center, SAIS’ new home in Washington DC. Featured students:

  • Josh Curtis - Responsible Digital Development: Africa Study Trip (Rwanda)

  • Dexter Maryland - International Human Rights Law Clinic (Jordan)

  • Nitika Nayar - Energy & Environment Practicum

  • Magdelena Paddock - Crisis Simulation

• 4:00pm - 4:45pm – Alumni Panel: Alumni Reflections on the Future of Globalization (Michael and Susan B. White Conference Center - 8th floor)

  Hear from alumni representatives from across the decades as they reflect on the future of globalization, navigating change and building professional careers and connections amidst evolving global trends.

  • Class of 2020: Jennifer Conrad, Senior Writer, Inc. Magazine

  • Class of 2015: Joseph Losavio, Manager, Global Automotive Partnerships, MasterCard

  • Class of 2000: Oded Guttman, independent consultant in mining, former General Manager Corporate Development at Rio Tinto

  • Class of 1975: Craig Larimer, former Managing Director of International Market Analysis, JP Morgan Chase and civic leader 

• 4:45pm - 5:30pm – Alumni-Student Networking (Michael and Susan B. White Conference Center - 8th floor)

  Reflect on your post-SAIS journey, share your advice and learn from fellow alumni and current students in a facilitated networking session with alumni and students.

• 5:30pm - 7:00pm – Alumni & Student Happy Hour (Room 920, 9th floor)

  Relive the SAIS tradition of Friday Student Happy Hour. Reconnect with your classmates and current students in a fun social setting.

Saturday, March 29

• 9:30am - Registration begins (Lobby)

  For security reasons, all registered attendees are required to check-in and receive a SAIS lanyard and nametag. You'll also receive a schedule for the day and a small token of appreciation for joining us at Reunion 2025.

• 10:00am – 11:00am Class of 2020 celebration (Kenney Link, 4th floor)

  Members of the class of 2020 are invited to a belated in-person celebration of their graduation.

• 10:30am – 12:00pm Family Brunch (Michael and Susan B. White Conference Center - 8th floor)

  Join us for a festive brunch and bring your family!

• 12:00pm - 1:00pm Faculty Lecture I (Classroom 256)

  Join Associate Professor of Middle East Studies, Narges Bajoghli back in the classroom for a seminar titled “Narrative Wars and the World Order”.

• 12:00pm - 1:00pm Faculty Lecture II (Classroom 258)

  Join Professor John McLaughlin, back in the classroom for a seminar titled “Intelligence Challenges in a Changing Global Environment’”.

• 1:00pm – 2:00pm Lounge Break, Networking, Campus Tours

  Reconnect and network with your classmates in a dedicated reunion lounge area OR tour the Hopkins Bloomberg Center, SAIS’ new home in Washington DC.

• 2:00pm - 3:00pm Faculty Lecture III (Classroom 256)

  Join Associate Professor Adam Auerbach, back in the classroom for a seminar titled "State Capacity and Local Development: A View from India's Urban Municipalities”.

• 2:00pm - 3:00pm – Faculty Lecture IV (Classroom 258)

  Join Professor Albert (Jim) Marckwardt, Program Administrator, Adjunct Lecturer and Faculty Co-Lead for The Americas Focus Area, back in the classroom for a seminar titled “The Insecurity- Migration Spiral in Latin America”.

• 3:00pm - 4:00pm – Meet the Deans (Kenney Link, 4th Floor)

  Meet members of the SAIS leadership team for an opportunity to learn about SAIS strategy, priorities, and current initiatives, and ask questions about their vision for SAIS’ future.

• 4:00pm - 5:30pm – Reception with Dean Steinberg (Michael and Susan B. White Conference Center - 8th floor)

  SAIS Dean Jim Steinberg, hosts our evening reception, the final on-campus event of the weekend. Dean Steinberg will make remarks at 4:30pm. Refreshments (beer and wine) and heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served.

• Class Dinners (organized by committees)*

  • 7:00PM - Class of 2020 Dinner - Lauriol Plaza, 1835 18th St. NW (additional cost)

  • 6:00PM - Class of 2015 Dinner - Little Penn, 801 E Street, NW (additional cost)

  • 5:45PM - Class of 2000 Dinner - Fogo di Chao, 1101 Pennsylvania Ave NW(additional cost)

  • 6:30PM - Class of 1975 Dinner - Carmine’s Italian Restaurant, 425 7th St. NW (purchase your dinner ticket in the registration tab above)

*Reunion dinner tickets are not included in the reunion ticket price. The reunion dinner for the Class of 1975 requires an additional ticket that can be purchased along with your reunion registration. Reunion dinners for the Classes of 2020, 2015 and 2000 are arranged by volunteer reunion organizers and also require a separate registration. Detailed information on these class dinners is forthcoming.

Reunion Weekend schedule is subject to change. If you have purchased tickets and find yourself unable to attend, please reach out to saisalumnievents@jhu.edu for a refund (donations included in ticket purchase are non-refundable). For more information about the JHU SAIS event cancellation and refund policy, please click here.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

NICK SCHIFRIN ‘18 is PBS NewsHour’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent. He leads NewsHour’s daily foreign coverage, including multiple trips to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, and has created weeklong series for the NewsHour from nearly a dozen countries.

The PBS NewsHour series “Inside Putin’s Russia” won a 2017 Peabody Award and the National Press Club’s Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. In 2020 Schifrin received the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Arthur Ross Media Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs. He was a member of the NewsHour teams awarded a 2021 Peabody for coverage of COVID-19, and a 2023 duPont Columbia Award for coverage of Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Prior to PBS NewsHour, Schifrin was Al Jazeera America's Middle East correspondent. From 2008-2012, Schifrin served as the ABC News correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Schifrin is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the Overseas Press Club Foundation. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Master of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

JAMES B. STEINBERG is the tenth Dean of SAIS. Previously, he served as University Professor of Social Science, International Affairs and Law at Syracuse University, where he was Dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs for five years. Prior, he served as Deputy Secretary of State to Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, from 2009-2011. From 2005-2008, Steinberg was Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Steinberg was vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Steinberg was deputy national security advisor to President Bill Clinton from 1996 to 2000.

Steinberg’s most recent books are A Glass Half Full? Rebalance, Reassurance and Resolve and Strategic Reassurance and Resolve: US-China Relations in the 21st Century He has also authored Difficult Transitions: Foreign Policy Troubles at the Outset of Presidential Power (Brookings 2008) with Kurt Campbell.

Steinberg received his A.B from Harvard College and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

FACULTY BIOGRAPHIES

ADAM AUERBACH is Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. His research and teaching focus on local governance, urban politics, and the political economy of development, with a regional focus on South Asia and India in particular. His first book, Demanding Development: The Politics of Public Goods Provision in India's Urban Slums (Cambridge University Press, 2020), accounts for the uneven success of India's slum residents in demanding and securing essential public services from the state. The project draws on more than two years of fieldwork in the north Indian cities of Jaipur, Rajasthan and Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Demanding Development won the 2021 Dennis Judd Best Book Award from the Urban and Local Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA). The doctoral dissertation on which Demanding Development is based also won three awards, including APSA's Gabriel Almond Award for best dissertation in comparative politics. Auerbach's second book (co-authored with Tariq Thachil), Migrants and Machine Politics: How India's Urban Poor Seek Representation and Responsiveness, was published by Princeton University Press in 2023.

Auerbach's research on governance and development in India also appears in the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Contemporary South Asia, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Studies in Comparative International Development, World Development, and World Politics.

NARGES BAJOGHLI is Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. She is an award-winning anthropologist, writer, and professor.
 
Trained as a political anthropologist, media anthropologist, and documentary filmmaker, Professor Bajoghli’s research is at the intersections of media, power, and resistance. She is the author of several books, including the award-winning book Iran Reframed: Anxieties of Power in the Islamic Republic (Stanford University Press 2019; winner 2020 Margaret Mead Award; 2020 Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title; 2021 Silver Medal in Independent Publisher Book Awards for Current Events); How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare (with Vali Nasr, Djavad Salehi-Esfahani, and Ali Vaez, Stanford University Press 2024); and a graphic novella, Sanctioned Lives (2024). 
 
With the support of the Johns Hopkins University Catalyst Award, Professor Bajoghli is currently writing her next manuscript on a global history of chemical warfare. Professor Bajoghli’s research has been supported by grants and fellowships from the Social Science Research Council, the National Science Foundation (awarded/declined), The Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the American Institute of Iranian Studies, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, and Brown University.  
 
Professor Bajoghli received her PhD in socio-cultural anthropology from New York University, where her dissertation was awarded the Dean's Outstanding Dissertation Award in the Social Sciences. She was also trained as a documentary filmmaker in NYU's Culture and Media Program and at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She is the director of The Skin That Burns, a documentary film about survivors of chemical war in Iran, distributed by Film Media Group. The film has screened at festivals and university campuses in The Hague, Hiroshima, Jaipur, Tehran, and throughout the U.S. (New York, New Orleans, New Jersey, Chicago, and Irvine). She has also directed oral history projects on survivors of chemical weapons (archived at the Tehran Peace Museum).
 
At Johns Hopkins University, Professor Bajoghli teaches classes on media, social movements, and counter-movements;  contemporary Iranian politics and society; and ethnographic research methods to masters and PhD students. She is the recipient of the 2022 Excellence in Teaching Award at Johns Hopkins University, SAIS. Professor Bajoghli is the co-director of the Rethinking Iran Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, SAIS, which includes public events and research projects on contemporary Iranian society.   
 
In addition to her academic writing, Professor Bajoghli has written for such publications as The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, and Jacobin. She has appeared as a guest commentator on Iranian politics on CNN, DemocracyNow!, NPR, BBC WorldService, BBC NewsHour, and PBS NewsHour as well as in Spanish on radio programs across Latin America. 

ALBERT (JIM) MARCKWARDT is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and Foreign Area Officer that served for over 29 years in the United States Army in various policy and security cooperation positions including at the Office of Secretary of Defense for Policy as the Colombia and Venezuela Country Director, at the Defense Intelligence Agency as a Defense Strategic Intelligence Planner, at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras as a Liaison Officer and Political Military Advisor for Joint Task Force Bravo, and as a Mexico Senior Leader Engagement Officer at U.S. Army North where he worked closely with Mexico’s SEDENA. He also attended and graduated from Argentina’s Escuela Superior de Guerra (Superior War School) as an exchange student.

Prior to his time as a Foreign Area Officer he deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in command and staff positions as an Armor Officer, and coauthored The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa, the premiere tactical primer on counterinsurgency.

He is currently a Lecturer and Faculty Lead for the Americas Focus Area at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He earned his Doctor of International Affairs and Master of International Public Policy degrees at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and earned a BA in International Business from Florida International University.

JOHN E. MCLAUGHLIN is Professor of Practice in the Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University.

Prof. McLaughlin, a 1966 graduate of Johns Hopkins SAIS, served as Acting Director of Central Intelligence from July to September of 2004 and as the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from 2000 to 2004. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Director for Intelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency, Vice Chairman for Estimates and Acting Chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

Earlier in his career with the CIA, which spanned three decades, Mr. McLaughlin focused on European, Russian, and Eurasian Issues in the Directorate of Intelligence. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he served as Director of the Office of European Analysis during the period marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Then, four months after the break-up of the Soviet Union, he became Director of the CIA office – Slavic and Eurasian Analysis – that was responsible for CIA’s analysis of the fifteen independent states that emerged from the USSR. During this time, he frequently represented the Intelligence Community on the US diplomatic missions that established initial relations with these newly independent countries.
 
In early 2010, Mr. McLaughlin led, at the request of the Director of National Intelligence, a task force on the failed terrorist attack on a Northwest Airlines flight at Christmas 2009 and developed a series of recommendations for improving intelligence collection and analysis on terrorist plans.  In 2013-14, he served on the Advisory Board that assisted Norway’s Statoil (now Equinor) in its “lessons learned” following a terrorist attack on its Algeria-based facility.

While Deputy Director for Intelligence from 1997 to 2000, he created the Senior Analytic Service, a CIA career track that enables analysts to rise to very senior rank without branching out into management. He also founded the Sherman Kent School for Intelligence Analysis, an institution dedicated to teaching the history, mission, and essential skills of the analytic profession to new CIA employees.

In addition to earning his master’s degree in international relations from SAIS/Johns Hopkins, he received a bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University and completed graduate work in comparative politics at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. McLaughlin is a graduate of the US Army Infantry Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning and was recently inducted into the School's Hall of Fame. He completed a US Army tour in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969

Mr. McLaughlin is the recipient of the Distinguished Intelligence Community Service Award and the National Security Medal. He received the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and in 2016 the William Oliver Baker Award from the private Intelligence and National Security  Alliance (INSA). Mr, McLaughlin served in 2015 as the Humanitas Visiting Professor for intelligence at Oxford University.
 
He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy. He serves on the bipartisan Homeland Security Advisory Group managed by Mitre Corporation, the National Security Advisory Group at the Noblis Corporation, and the Middle East Institute’s Advisory Group on Countering Terrorism and Extremism. 

STUDENT SHOWCASE BIOGRAPHIES

JOSHUA CURTIS is a Public Service Fellow and Master's candidate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a member of Foreign Policy for America's NextGen Initiative whose work focuses on the role of emerging technologies, economic statecraft, and good governance in international security. Before coming to SAIS, he served as Special Assistant for Policy & Strategy at the National Endowment for Democracy, where he helped shape both the organization's internal data and enterprise risk management strategy and its programmatic strategies on digital democracy, countering transnational corruption, and assisting economic and security sector reforms in democratizing countries. He is a member of Foreign Policy for America's NextGen Initiative, Chairman of the DC chapter of IPF Atid, and holds a Bachelor of Science magna cum laude from Duke University in Economics and Asian & Middle Eastern Studies. Josh is a skilled data analyst, a proficient speaker of Arabic, and is familiar with French and Hebrew.

DEXTER MARYLAND is a Spring 2023 Graduate of Texas Southern University where he obtained his B.A. in Political Science and Journalism. Dexter Maryland is currently concentrating in International Development, Climate, and Sustainability. As a 2023 Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Fellow, selected from 1000 applicants, he is preparing for a career in the U.S. Foreign Service while researching African politics and international human rights law. At the State Department's Africa Bureau OOice of Sudan, Maryland authored briefing materials for Secretary Blinken, managed the Special Envoy's social media presence, and coordinated key stakeholder dialogues during the ongoing crisis. Previously, as a magna cum laude graduate and Student Body President at Texas Southern University, he was recognized as a 2021 White House HBCU Scholar and gained national recognition as an NBC News Student Spokesperson for "Into America: The Power of the Black Vote." Currently serving as SAIS's Black Student Union President, Maryland brings diverse experience from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Pearson's DEI Department, and the Democratic National Committee. His legal background includes internships at Harris County Criminal Court and Spencer & Associates, PLLC. As a SAIS Admissions Fellow, he focuses on international economics, human rights law, and African politics while pursuing interests in international law, economic development, and climate change. Dexter will join the U.S. Department of State this fall as a Foreign Service OOicer specializing in Public Diplomacy in Africa.

NITIKA NAYAR is a second-year MAIR student at SAIS, specializing in electricity markets and finance. She has experience across the energy sector, having worked at CSIS, Eni, and Enel Green Power. Before SAIS, she was a Research Analyst in the Foreign Policy & Security Studies program at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) and a Research Assistant at the Brookings Institution’s India Center. Nitika also serves as Co-President of the Energy & Environment Club at SAIS.

MAGDELENA PADDOCK is a second year MAIR student concentrating in Security, Strategy, and Statecraft. Prior to coming to SAIS, Maggie held roles at the National Democratic Institute, UNHCR, and other international NGOs with a focus on the Middle East. Maggie completed her undergraduate degree at Emory University then moved to Amman, Jordan where she supported humanitarian programs for Syrian refugees for several years before returning to D.C. At SAIS, Maggie broadened her regional expertise with coursework on Russia, South Asia, and Turkey. She worked on the Albright Stonebridge Group’s Middle East team while completing her degree. Maggie helped run the annual SAIS Crisis Simulation as her capstone project this spring, shortly after welcoming her first child, a baby girl, in December. After graduation, Maggie hopes to pursue foreign policy or political risk roles.

ALUMNI PANEL BIOGRAPHIES

JENNIFER CONRAD, ‘20, Senior Writer, Inc. Magazine. Jennifer is a Brooklyn-based senior writer for Inc. She has written for Wired, Vogue, The Wire China, Time Out Beijing, and Newsweek.com. She has a master’s degree in China studies and economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and spent three years working as a writer and editor in Beijing.  

JOSEPH LOSAVIO, ‘15, Manager, Global Automotive Partnerships, MasterCard. Joseph is a global partnerships and stakeholder management professional. He is currently a Manager of Global Acceptance Partnerships at Mastercard, focusing on enabling in-vehicle payments and building an in-car commerce merchant acceptance ecosystem worldwide.  Prior to Mastercard, he worked for the World Economic Forum, where he developed and led global infrastructure communities of practice, designed international development workshops, and managed relationships with public and private sector organizations.  Earlier in his career, he worked in account management and sales strategy at Altria Group. 

ODED GUTTMAN ‘20, independent consultant in mining, former General Manager Corporate Development at Rio Tinto. Oded has over 20 years of experience in the Metals & Mining sector, specializing in M&A, corporate development, and finance. He has played a key role in the execution of transactions and the development of major mining projects across diverse global markets, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Australia. Oded spent most of his career at Rio Tinto and more recently has become an independent consultant to various players in this industry. Oded is originally from Colombia but has been living in Canada for the last 20 years. Currently he is an Independent Consultant to Metals & Mining companies. 

CRAIG LARIMER, ‘75, former Managing Director of International Market Analysis, JP Morgan Chase. After graduating from SAIS, Craig Larimer joined the U.S. Treasury’s international division, where he held roles in research, foreign exchange, the IMF desk, and the Nordic desk, culminating in a two-year assignment as assistant financial attaché at the American Embassy in London. During this time, he was involved in monitoring the early Thatcher economic era and the financial aspects of the release of American hostages in Iran.

Craig later moved to the First National Bank of Chicago in London, where he marketed foreign exchange and money market products to official institutions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He eventually transitioned to the interest rate swap and option desk, focusing on Scandinavian clients. After 15 years in London, he relocated to Chicago, where as managing director he led a market and economic analysis group for the next decade.

In 2004, following changes in the banking industry, he transitioned to education, becoming the headmaster of Fountain Valley School of Colorado, a private coed boarding school. Craig retired in 2013 and now focuses on land conservation, hiking, and fly fishing in Colorado, while occasionally engaging with the local World Affairs Council and spending time with his grandchildren.