Expert Solutionists' Bios 2024-25
Kelebogile Zvobgo, Ph.D.
Dr. Kelebogile Zvobgo’s research focuses on human rights, transitional justice, and international law and courts. She is a distinguished associate professor of government at William and Mary and a faculty affiliate at the Global Research Institute. She is also a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Stephen M. Kellen Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. Professor Zvobgo earned her doctorate in Political Science (International Relations) from the University of Southern California in 2021. She received the Best Paper on Human Rights award from the International Studies Association in 2019 and the Best Dissertation on Human Rights award from the American Political Science Association in 2022. Her research interests led her to establish the International Justice Lab at William and Mary in 2019, where, as the director, she brings together faculty and students from across the United States to conduct research on international law and justice. The IJL’s mission is to produce knowledge that is “relevant to policy makers, practitioners, and civil society advocates”, and the research from the lab has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, including International Studies Quarterly and the Journal of Human Rights, as well as mainstream outlets like Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Washington Post. Professor Zvobgo has appeared on ABC News, Bloomberg TV, CNN, NPR, and PRX. She has also been quoted in The Atlantic and Vox, among others.
David Torres ‘84
David Torres, ‘84 is a Professor of the Practice of Social Entrepreneurship and Global Health, a member of the Innovation Hub team, a MiddMentor, and a Posse Faculty Mentor. He has worked at Middlebury College since January, 2019, teaching courses on Global Health, Social Entrepreneurship, MiddCORE, and the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After graduating from Middlebury, David had a 22- year career in finance, working for JPMorgan Chase in a variety of investment banking and fixed income businesses across Latin America, the US and Europe.
In 2006, David decided to end his career in banking and moved with his family to Cape Town, South Africa to join the management team at mothers2mothers, a Social Enterprise working across Sub-Saharan Africa to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and promote maternal and child healthcare. David fulfilled a number of senior roles at m2m, including management and support for business development, new-country start-up, fundraising, governance; donor, ministry of health and implementing partner relationship management, and a ground-breaking outcomes-based funding initiative. During the 12 years that David spent at m2m, the organization scaled its programming to ten countries, employed more than ten thousand women with HIV as Community Health Workers, and worked to support more than ten million women and children through its services. David serves as a board member to different social enterprises and foundations, and provides pro-bono organizational development support in the social sector.
Mike Kiernan, MD
Throughout his career, Dr. Mike Kiernan has explored the intersections between medicine, human rights, and environmental stewardship. He practices emergency medicine at Porter Hospital in Middlebury, VT and is the founder of Bee the Change, a business whose principal aim is to restore habitats for bees in Middlebury and beyond. Dr Kiernan is also part of the Global Outreach Doctors team, which seeks to provide medical humanitarian assistance to those who need it most, including those in war zones or in the aftermath of a natural disaster. As part of this team, he responded to the 2015 Nepal earthquake and was the Chief Medical Officer at l’Hôpital du Cœur following the 2010 earthquake in Haïti. He has lectured at Middlebury College, where taught persuasive speaking and assisted with the MiddCore program until 2018. His experience in medicine—both in Middlebury and abroad—and his environmental initiatives make him an exciting speaker for the RGS Program.
Yacob Mulugetta, Ph.D.
Professor Yacob Mulugetta teaches at the University College London in the Energy and Development Policy department. His research focuses on energy systems and climate change. In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities at UCL, Dr. Mulugetta holds a management position at the Climate Compatible Growth Programme (CCG) whose aim is to promote investments in renewable energy development and energy-related infrastructure in the Global South. With extensive experience in Africa, he is a founder of the African Climate Policy Center, which seeks to influence climate-related legislation, having previously worked as an energy and climate specialist with the UN Economic Commission for Africa. Professor Mulugetta’s interest in energy infrastructure and its impact on human and non-human lives is compelling, and it ties in with discussions that the RGS Program encourages.