Dr Vanessa Scherrer is the Vice Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs of Sciences Po, and a member of the faculty of Sciences Po.
After a decade spent at Columbia University, New York, Vanessa Scherrer was named the Vice Dean and Executive Director of the Paris School of International Affairs of Sciences Po in September 2010, upon the launching of this world-class school of international affairs based in Paris. Her management responsibilities include major missions of the school: curriculum and faculty affairs; student affairs, admissions and carreer services; international partnerships; financial and development affairs; communications and external relations.
Prior to her appointment at PSIA, Vanessa Scherrer was the Director of the Alliance Program at Columbia University and a visiting professor at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Under Dr. Scherrer's leadership, the Alliance Program grew into a sustainable partnership between four world-leading universities (Columbia University, the Ecole Polytechnique, Sciences Po and the Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne). An endowed program at Columbia University, the Alliance Program has remained a unique academic endeavor in the world of international education benefiting more than 300 students and 80 faculty members every year.
Vanessa Scherrer holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Sciences Po (Paris, France). At Columbia University and now at Sciences Po, Dr. Scherrer has taught Research Design and Qualitative Methods, Public Opinion and European Politics, and American Government. She has also launched and taught an experimental transatlantic course on Global Leadership, in collaboration with the Dean of the Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Tech University. A specialist of Political Sociology, her research interests have included political behavior, political socialization processes and experimental methodology. Vanessa Scherrer has been the recipient of several academic scholarships, including the first doctoral scholarship of excellence jointly offered by Sciences Po and Columbia University in 2001.
In 2013, Vanessa Scherrer joined the flagship Young Leaders program of the French American Foundation and has supported their programs and events committee since then. In March 2015, she was invited to join the board and founding committee of ExpoFrance 2025, the organization in charge of France's bid to host the World Expo in 2025. She also served on the editorial committee of the innovative Echapée Volée, TEDx Paris.
Vanessa Scherrer lives in Paris with her husband and their three children.
