Athens, Ga. – William W. Keller has been named as director of the University of Georgia Center for International Trade and Security. Keller will hold the Gary K. Bertsch Directorship and the rank of professor in the School of Public and International Affairs.
Known for his expertise in nonproliferation, multinational corporations and international security, Keller brings 25 years of experience to the center’s ongoing efforts to promote peace and prosperity as well as to contain the spread of weapons and technologies of mass destruction.
“I believe Bill Keller is exactly the right person to carry on the excellent programs and activities of the center and the right person to take the center to the next level of accomplishments in the fields of trade and security,” said Thomas P. Lauth, Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs. “He is a proven leader in the field of international trade and security policy.”
Prior to coming to UGA, Keller directed the Mathew B. Ridgway Center for International Security at the University of Pittsburgh and concurrently held the Wesley W. Posvar Chair. He is a past executive director of the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a former deputy director of the Center for Trade and Commercial Diplomacy at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.In addition, he has served in the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, directing projects on commerce in advanced weapons and multinational corporations for the Senate Committees on Armed Services, Commerce and Banking, among others.
The Bertsch directorships an endowed position made possible by the generosity of Jane S. Willson of Albany, Georgia, and honors the work of the founding director of CITS, Gary K. Bertsch, who retired recently after 40 years at the University of Georgia.
For more information on the Center for International Trade and Security, see www.uga.edu/cits.