Joan E. Spero is President of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which strives to improve the quality of people's lives through grants supporting performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research, and child maltreatment prevention as well as preservation of Doris Duke's properties. Renowned throughout the field of political science, Spero received her doctorate in political science from Columbia University, where she taught international politics and economics from 1973 to 1979. In 1980, she was named U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council by President Jimmy Carter. From 1981 to 1993, she served as an executive at the American Express Company, ultimately executive vice president for corporate affairs and communications. Dr. Spero's vast political experience also includes serving as undersecretary of state for economic, business, and agricultural affairs in the Clinton Administration. Jeffrey A. Hart is Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he has taught international politics and international political economy since 1981. He taught at Princeton University from 1973 to 1980, served as a professional staff member of the President's Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties from 1980-1981, and worked at the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress as an internal contractor in 1985-1986. Dr. Hart received his doctorate in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975.
