Michael Morfit

Michael is currently a senior fellow at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Services and is also a consultant for a variety of international development agencies. Previously, he served as professor in the practice of international affairs and chair of the international development concentration in the university’s master of science in foreign service program. As well as overseeing the academic program in international development, he taught graduate courses on development theory, risk management in development, and governance reform. He continues to consult for a range of international agencies and governments in risk management and governance reform. Prior to Georgetown, Michael served with a wide range of academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, grantmaking foundations, for-profit consulting firms, and the U.S. government. For nearly a decade, he was vice president of Development Alternatives Inc., a large, U.S.-based, for-profit consulting firm, where he launched the democracy and governance practice, overseeing its growth in annual revenues from $3 million to $25 million. As a USAID officer, Michael conceived, designed, and helped negotiate the multibillion-dollar Multilateral Assistance Initiative to support the Aquino administration after the “People Power Revolution” in the Philippines. He also served as the director of the Office of Strategic Planning, officer-in-charge for Central and Eastern Europe, director of the Office of Caribbean Affairs, and director of the Haiti Task Force. Michael holds a BA from Williams College, where he completed a double major in political economics with special reference to developing countries. His PhD in political philosophy is from the University of Durham (U.K.). Michael and his wife, Christine, were married under the care of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Monthly Meeting in the U.K. They have both been members of Bethesda Friends Meeting for nearly 25 years. They have two children, Garrison Morfit ’93 and Nicholas Morfit ’96. This is Michael’s third term on the Sidwell Friends Board of Trustees. He previously served from 1997 to 2005.