Staff at the Institute of International Studies

Professor Pradeep Chhibber
Director

Dr. Chhibber is a Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley, in addition to serving as the Director of the Institute of International Studies. He is currently pursuing two current research projects.  The first focuses on the influence of religious practice on perceptions of political representation.  The second examines governance from the perspective of the citizen.  He received his Ph.D. from UCLA, and his M.A. and M.Phil. from the University of Delhi. Dr. Chhibber has authored and co-authored several books including The Formation of National Party Systems: Federalism and Party Competition in Britain, Canada, India, and the U.S. with Ken Kollman, and Democracy without Associations: Transformation of Party Systems and Social Cleavages in India, both of which have won Leon Epstein Awards for best books published in the field of political parties and organizations. He also holds the Indo-American Community Chair in India Studies and the Class of 1959 Chair at the UC Berkeley campus

Harry Kreisler
Executive Director

Mr. Kreisler is the Executive Director of the Institute of International Studies. In that role, he shapes, administers, and implements interdisciplinary academic and public affairs programs that analyze global issues. From 2002 to 2007, Mr. Kreisler taught a course titled "Issues in Foreign Policy after 9/11," which, in addition to being an undergraduate course for credit, was opened to the public as a lecture series. On top of his work with the Institute, he is currently teaching a course at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, dealing with international challenges facing US Foreign Policy. Mr. Kreisler is also the creator, executive producer, and host of Conversations with History, an interview program in which Mr. Kreisler interviews diplomats, statesmen, and soldiers; economists and political analysts; scientists and historians; writers and foreign correspondents; activists and artists about their lives, their work, and their ideas. He has conducted more than 500 interviews since the show first aired in 1982. He has also finished a book, Political Awakenings (2010), chronicling the ethical and political development of some of his most memorable interviewees.

Professor Stephen Small
Associate Director

Stephen Small has taught in the Department of African American Studies since 1994. He received his B.A. (honours) in Economics and Sociology from the University of Kent at Canterbury, his MS.C in Social Sciences, from the University of Bristol (both in the UK), and his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. He taught in the Department of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1988-1992); in the Center for Research in Ethnic Relations at the University of Warwick (1991); and in the Department of Sociology at the University of Leicester (1992-1995). He was the Study Center Director of the University of California's Education Abroad Program in France (Bordeaux and Toulouse), 2002-2004; and he was Director of UC Berkeley's travel study program in Brazil (Salvador and Rio de Janeiro) from 2001-2005.

Professor Amy Gurowitz
Director of Education Programs

Amy Gurowitz is a lecturer in Political Science. She specializes in International Relations, teaching and researching in the areas of international relations theory, international ethics, human rights, and the politics of immigration. Her publications include articles in World Politics, International Politics, and the Journal of Asian Studies, as well as several book chapters. Prior to receiving her Ph.D. from Cornell University Gurowitz was a fellow at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs and a recipient of an SSRC-MacArthur Politics in a Changing World Fellowship.

Rexille Uy
Program Manager

Rexille has been with IIS for over three years.  She began her career as a work-study student her junior and senior years at UC Berkeley, and then worked as the Event Specialist/Assistant Office Manager for one year after graduation.  As the current Program Manager, Rexille plans and executes IIS sponsored events and carries out all lecture and event publicity.  She is responsible for funding opportunity announcements and acts as a liaison between awarded faculty and students and the Institute.  Rexille is solely responsible for the IIS website and manages the operations and financial matters of the Institute.  She has degrees in both Sociology and Media Studies from UC Berkeley and enjoys cooking, living in San Francisco, and watching sports.  GO BEARS!

Heddy Riss
Program Director, Institutions and Governance Program

Heddy Riss is the Program Director for the Center on Institutions and Governance at the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. She has launched numerous programs, including: the California-EU Regulatory Cooperation Project, Voteworld (an International Legislative Roll Call Voting Web site), the Global Islam Initiative, the Endogenous Institutions and Political Conflict Workshop (2006-2008), the China Summer Institute, and the Workshop on Agri-environmental Politics in the U.S. and EU. Previously, she worked as an adviser to the Vice Premier Minister in the Belgian Government, was responsible for the preparation of the Belgian presidency of the EU and was academic coordinator for the Institute of European Studies at UC Berkeley. She received an M.A. in Economics in 1975 and an M.A. in Public Sector Management in 1989 at the Free University of Brussels.