Robert Garris is the Managing Director of Bellagio Programs and a member of the senior leadership team at The Rockefeller Foundation, where his work enhances and extends the Foundation’s global network, search activities, and overall convening capacity through outreach, recruitment, and selection of conferences and resident fellows at the Foundation’s Bellagio Center in northern Italy. He also leads the Foundation’s global and U.S. work on the philanthropic sector. Prior to joining The Rockefeller Foundation, Rob spent eight years at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where he served most recently as Senior Associate Dean. In this role, he was responsible for ensuring that strategic planning, external affairs, global partnerships, and student affairs advanced the School’s core mission to train students and produce research that promoted global public interests. Prior to SIPA, he held leadership positions at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Garris holds a Ph.D. in European History from the University of North Carolina with a focus on immigration and urban policy. He resides in New York City.