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For nearly two decades, Tulane's international commitment has been a principal focus of former university president Dr. Eamon M. Kelly and university vice-president Dr. William E. Bertrand. Dr. Bertrand was the first Director of the Payson Center. Dr. Kelly is the former Executive Director of the Payson Center and served as a former Chairman of the Board of the National Science Foundation. Drs. Kelly and Bertrand are both full professors and hold endowed chairs at the University.
In July 2010, Professor Colin Crawford joined Tulane University as the new Executive Director of the Payson Center. Professor Crawford has significant expertise in international development. Early in his professional career, he worked in Tokyo and New York, concentrating in environmental and land use law. While at Georgia State, Professor Crawford co-directed the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth and was the founder and director of the Summer Legal Study Program in Rio de Janeiro. His teaching and research interests are in the environmental area, particularly comparative, cross-cultural environmental justice issues, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. Professor Crawford’s appointment will further integrate the Payson Center into the Law School and will both enlarge and enrich the academic and co-curricular opportunities available to Tulane students.
With new technologies guiding the development field, the future economic survival of peoples and nations will depend upon the number of individuals equipped with the skills and competencies necessary for furthering social and economic development. The leadership of the Payson Center is committed to the belief that scientific and technological advancements are important to developing as well as developed countries and that new technologies may in fact have greater immediate significance for developing countries.
