Senior Advisor

Phillip A. Griffiths is professor of mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study, where he served as director from 1991-2003.  Prior to joining the Institute, he was provost and James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics at Duke University for eight years.  From 1972-83 he was a professor of mathematics at Harvard University.  He has also taught at Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley.  He was a Member in the Institute’s School of Mathematics from 1968-1970.

As Chairman of the Science Initiative Group, Dr. Griffiths leads the Millennium Science Initiative (MSI), whose primary goal is to strengthen the science and technology capacity of developing nations through programs of research and training planned and driven by local scientists.  MSI is a combined effort of the international scientific community, the World Bank, major foundations, and bilateral donors, who work together to integrate science and technology into country development strategies.

Dr. Griffiths serves as a senior advisor to the Mellon Foundation and secretary of the International Mathematical Union, and he is a Distinguished Presidential Fellow for International Affairs at The National Academies.

A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Dr. Griffiths received his Ph.D. from Princeton University.  Among his professional associations, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Council on Foreign Relations, and he is a foreign associate of TWAS (the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World) and of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, and an honorary fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences.  He was a member of the National Science Board from 1991-1996.  A former member of the Board of Directors of Bankers Trust New York Corporation, he currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Oppenheimer Funds and the GSI Group.