Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C.

Director, Ford Program in Human Development Studies & Solidarity
Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Fellow, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies

Fr. Dowd is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and founding Director of the Ford Family Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity. A graduate of Notre Dame, Dowd received his doctorate in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests include African politics, ethnic politics, and the impact of religion on development outcomes and political institutions. He is working on a book manuscript titled, Christianity, Islam and Liberal Democracy: Lessons from sub-Saharan Africa. The Ford Family Program, founded by Dowd in 2008, is part of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Its mission is to integrate teaching, research and grassroots community engagement in parts of the world where extreme poverty continues to be a major challenge. Through the Ford Program, Notre Dame forges strategic partnerships with institutions of higher education, non-governmental organizations, governmental organizations, and religious institutions. The first of these partnerships are in Uganda and Kenya.